Recording medium destruction and discarding system, recording medium destruction and discarding method, recording medium destruction and discarding apparatus, recording medium management apparatus, and recording medium management system

ABSTRACT

A sheet destruction and discarding apparatus for destroying and discarding a sheet, comprising a destruction and discarding unit that destroys and discards the sheet based on a determination whether or not the sheet is allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded; a notification unit that notifies that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded and a reason why the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded when the determination indicates that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded; an insert sensor that detects whether or not the sheet is taken off, wherein, after the notification unit notifies that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded and the reason, a state of the insert sensor changes to an off state and then a state of the sheet destruction and discarding apparatus changes to a standby state.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent Ser. No. 11/513,195filed Aug. 31, 2006, which claims priority to JP 2005-262133 filed Sep.9, 2005, JP 2005-297283 filed Oct. 12, 2005, JP 2006-023725 filed Jan.31, 2006, JP 2005-297284 filed Oct. 12, 2005, and JP-2005-297285 filedOct. 12, 2005, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/404,804 filed Apr. 17, 2006, all of which arehereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a recording medium management system, arecording medium management apparatus, a recording medium destructionand discarding apparatus and a recording medium destruction anddiscarding method, which are suitably applied in managing the recordingmedium such as a document.

2. Related Art

Generally, confidential documents, such as documents intended for useonly in a section or a company, are frequently handled in corporateoffices and public institutions, such as a city office. Originals ofsuch confidential documents are stored under strict control to preventconfidential information from being leaked. Further, confidentialdocuments rendered unnecessary are destroyed by using a shredder or thelike.

A storage times are designated for most of accounting documents, such asdebit notes, receipts, and statements of account. Thus, in a case whereconfidential documents are destroyed by being shredded, it is necessaryfor a person in charge to check in advance according to an originalledger whether the confidential document to be destroyed can really bedestroyed.

However, in the case of destroying a large amount of confidentialdocuments, it is very troublesome and time-consuming to perform documentdestruction by checking the storage times of the confidential documentsone by one. Additionally, there is a fear that a confidential documenthaving a remaining storage time may be destroyed by mistake due to humanerror.

Thus, in JP-A-2002-368966, there was described a scanner apparatus witha shredder function comprising image reading means for reading thepapers, image storage means for storing the read image data, image dataretention means for retaining the stored image data, and cutting meansfor cutting the papers after retaining the papers as image data. Withthis scanner apparatus, even if a confidential document with a storageperiod left is destroyed and discarded by mistake, an image of theconfidential document can be retained as electronic data.

SUMMARY

However, since only one script exists for the confidential document, theoriginal script can not be reproduced, even if the image of theconfidential document is retained as electronic data employing the aboveprior art. Accordingly, it is not possible to omit a troublesomeconfirmation operation in destroying and discarding the confidentialdocument. Also, it is not possible to avoid a false destruction anddiscarding due to an artificial confirmation error.

According to an exemplary embodiment, a recording medium destruction anddiscarding system for destroying and discarding a recording medium,includes: a registration unit that registers an identificationinformation appended to the recording medium associated with anattribute information of the recording medium; a reading unit that readsthe identification information appended to the recording medium; adetermination unit that determines whether or not the recording mediummay be destroyed and discarded based on the attribute informationregistered in the registration unit associated with the identificationinformation read by the reading unit; and a destruction and discardingprocessing unit that performs a destruction and discarding process basedon the determination result of the determination unit.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a recording mediumdestruction and discarding method for destroying and discarding arecording medium of destruction and discarding object, the methodincludes: registering an identification information appended to therecording medium associated with an attribute information of therecording medium; reading the identification information appended to therecording medium; determining whether or not the recording medium may bedestroyed and discarded based on the attribute information registered atthe registering step associated with the identification information readat the reading step; and performing a destruction and discarding processbased on the determination result obtained at the determining step.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a recording medium managementsystem, includes: a recording medium destruction and discardingapparatus that destroys and discards a recording medium of destructionand discarding object; and a recording medium management apparatusconnected to the recording medium destruction and discarding apparatusvia a communication line; wherein the recording medium destruction anddiscarding apparatus includes: a reading unit that reads theidentification information appended to the recording medium, atransmitting unit that transmits the identification information read bythe reading unit to the recording medium management apparatus, areceiving unit that receives a determination result as to whether or notthe recording medium may be destroyed and discarded from the recordingmedium management apparatus, and a destruction and discarding processingunit that performing a destruction and discarding process based on thedetermination result received by the receiving unit; and the recordingmedium management apparatus includes: a registration unit that registersthe identification information appended to the recording mediumassociated with an attribute information of the recording medium, areceiving unit that receives the identification information from therecording medium destruction and discarding apparatus, a determinationunit that determines whether or not the recording medium may bedestroyed and discarded based on the attribute information registered inthe registration unit associated with the identification informationreceived by the receiving unit, and a transmitting unit that transmitsthe determination result obtained by the determination unit to therecording medium destruction and discarding apparatus.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a recording mediumdestruction and discarding apparatus for destroying and discarding arecording medium, the recording medium destruction and discardingapparatus being connected via a communication line to a recording mediummanagement apparatus having a registration unit for registering anidentification information appended to the recording medium ofdestruction and discarding object associated with an attributeinformation of the recording medium, the recording medium destructionand discarding apparatus includes: a reading unit that reads theidentification information appended to the recording medium; atransmitting unit that transmits the identification information read bythe reading unit to the recording medium management apparatus; areceiving unit that receives the determination result whether or not therecording medium may be destroyed and discarded from the recordingmedium management apparatus; and a destruction and discarding processingunit that performs a destruction and discarding process based on thedetermination result.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a recording medium managementapparatus connected via a communication line to a recording mediumdestruction and discarding apparatus for destroying and discarding arecording medium of destruction and discarding object, includes: aregistration unit that registers an identification information appendedto the recording medium associated with an attribute information of therecording medium; a receiving unit that receives the identificationinformation from the recording medium destruction and discardingapparatus; a determination unit that determines whether or not therecording medium may be destroyed and discarded based on the attributeinformation registered in the registration unit associated with theidentification information received by the receiving unit; and atransmitting unit that transmits the determination result obtained bythe determination unit to the recording medium destruction anddiscarding apparatus.

According to another exemplary embodiment, a recording mediumdestruction and discarding system for destroying and discarding arecording medium of destruction and discarding object, includes: anattribute information reading unit that reads an attribute informationappended to the recording medium; a determination unit that determineswhether or not the recording medium may be destroyed and discarded basedon the attribute information read from the attribute information readingunit; and a destruction and discarding processing that performs adestruction and discarding process based on the determination result ofthe determination unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments may be described in detail with reference to theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a document managementsystem according to one form of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a documentgeneration apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a documentmanagement apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing a document destruction and discardingapparatus according to a first mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a view of a document tray section, as seen from the above.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the first mechanical embodiment.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are views for explaining a creation example of document.

FIG. 8 is a view showing one example of a document management table.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the first mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a second mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the second mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart (No. 1) showing a processing procedure for thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus according to the secondmechanical embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart (No. 2) showing a processing procedure for thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus according to the secondmechanical embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic view showing another configuration example of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus.

FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of destruction anddiscarding determination.

FIG. 17 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a third mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a view of a document tray section, as seen from the above.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the third mechanical embodiment.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are views for explaining a creation example ofdocument.

FIG. 21 is a view showing one example of a document management table.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the third mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing a documentdestruction and discarding process in the first destruction anddiscarding mode.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing the documentdestruction and discarding process in the second destruction anddiscarding mode.

FIG. 25 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a fourth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of the document destruction and discardingapparatus partly exploded.

FIG. 27 is a perspective view of the document destruction and discardingapparatus.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view of a unit main body, partly exploded.

FIG. 29 is a perspective view of a component of the unit main body.

FIG. 30 is a view showing a driving mechanism for a stopper gate.

FIG. 31 is a view of a scan unit, as seen from the above.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram showing a document destruction and discardingapparatus according to a fourth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 33 is a view for explaining a creation example of document.

FIG. 34 is a view showing one example of the document management table.

FIG. 35 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the fourth mechanicalembodiment.

FIGS. 36A-C are views for explaining a nonconformity that may occur whenthe document is inserted in the document destruction and discardingapparatus.

FIG. 37 is a view showing an apparatus constitution for resolving thenonconformity in inserting the document.

FIG. 38 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a fifth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 39 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the fifth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the fifth mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 41 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a sixth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the sixth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the sixth mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 44 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a seventh mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 45 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the seventh mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the seventh mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 47 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to an eighth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 48 is a schematic enlarged view showing path change means in largerscale.

FIG. 49 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the eighth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 50 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the eighth mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 51 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a ninth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 52 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the ninth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 53 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the ninth mechanicalembodiment.

FIGS. 54A and 54B are schematic views showing another form of a gateportion according to the ninth mechanical embodiment.

FIGS. 55A and 55B are schematic views showing another form of the gateportion according to the ninth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 56 is a schematic view showing another driving mechanism accordingto the ninth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 57 is a schematic view showing another form of the ninth mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 58 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for another formof the ninth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 59 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a tenth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 60 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the tenth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 61 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the tenth mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 62 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to an eleventh mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 63 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the eleventh mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 64 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the eleventhmechanical embodiment.

FIG. 65 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a twelfth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 66 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the twelfth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 67 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the twelfth mechanicalembodiment.

FIG. 68 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a thirteenth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 69 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the thirteenth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 70 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the thirteenthmechanical embodiment.

FIG. 71 is a schematic view showing a document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to a fourteenth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 72 is a block diagram showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to the fourteenth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 73 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus according to the fourteenthmechanical embodiment.

FIG. 74 is a schematic view showing an example in which a destructionand discarding BOX is applied instead of the shredder portion.

FIG. 75 is a functional block diagram for making the destruction anddiscarding determination from the attribute information.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The specific embodiments of the present invention will be describedbelow with reference to the drawings.

Overall Configuration>

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a documentmanagement system according to an embodiment of the invention. Theillustrated document management system includes a document creationapparatus 1, a document management apparatus 2, and a documentdestruction apparatus 3. The document creation apparatus 1, the documentmanagement apparatus 2, and the document destruction apparatus 3 areconnected to a common network 4. The document creation apparatus 1 isconfigured to create a document (a paper document) to which a documentID is added. The document management apparatus 2 is configured toperform various management processes on the document created by thedocument creation apparatus 1. The document destruction apparatus 3 isconfigured to perform the destruction of the document created by thedocument creation apparatus 1 and other documents. The network 4 isconstituted by using, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN(Wide Area Network).

Document Generation Apparatus>

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof the document creation apparatus 1. The document creation apparatus 1is constituted by using, for example, a digital copier, a digitalcomposite machine (a multifunctional copier), or the like. The documentcreation apparatus 1 is constituted by using an operation panel 5, animage reading portion 6, an image processing portion 7, an image outputportion 8, a document creation control portion 9, and a networkinterface 10.

The operation panel 5 (for the document creation apparatus 1) serves asa user interface through which a user using the document creationapparatus 1 inputs various information and which diverse information isdisplayed to users. The operation panel 5 includes an input portion,which has, for instance, various buttons, switches, and keys, and adisplay portion including a liquid display device with a touch panel.

The image reading portion 6 is adapted to optically read an originalimage to be read. The image reading portion 6 is configured so thatlight is irradiated onto a surface of an original set on a transparentoriginal table (a platen glass), that reflection light coming from thesurface of the original is read through an imaging optical systemincluding a mirror and a lens, and that an image is formed on a lightreceiving surface of a reading sensor, such as a CCD sensor, thereby togenerate image data (scan data) corresponding to an image of anoriginal. At that time, a surface of the original is read and scanned bymovement of the imaging optical system.

The image processing portion 7 performs predetermined image processing(for example, color conversion, color correction, tone correction,scaling, image rotation, or screen generation) on the image datarepresenting the original read by the image reading portion 6.

The image output portion 8 outputs the image data, which has been readby the image reading portion 6 and has undergone the image processing atthe mage processing portion 7, by printing the image data on a recordingmedium, such as a sheet of paper. The image output portion 8 prints theimage data according to, for example, an electrophotographic method.

The document creation control portion 9 controls various processingoperations relating to the document creation. The document creationcontrol portion 9 controls processing operations of the operation panel5, the image reading portion 6, the image processing portion 7, and theimage output portion 8 according to a preliminarily installed controlprogram.

The network interface 10 is a communication interface through thedocument creation apparatus 1 transmits and receives data to and fromother apparatuses, which include the document management apparatus 2 andthe document destruction apparatus 3, on the network 4. The datatransmission and reception using the network interface 10 are controlledby the document creation control portion 9.

<Document Management Apparatus>

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configurationof the document management apparatus 2. The document managementapparatus 2 is constituted by using, for example, a personal computer.The document management apparatus 2 is also constituted by using a userinterface portion (a UI portion) 11, a barcode analysis portion 12, aretrieval portion 13, a database portion 14, a document managementcontrol portion 15, and a network interface 16.

The user interface portion 11 serves as a user interface through thethrough which a user using the document management apparatus 2 inputsvarious information and which diverse information is displayed to users.The user interface portion 11 includes an input device, such as akeyboard, and a mouse, and also includes a display device, such as aliquid display device.

The barcode analysis portion 12 analyzes a barcode included in imagedata (scan data) and performs decoding processing thereon. The barcodeto be analyzed by the barcode analysis portion 12 is included in imagedata obtained when the image of a document with a barcode is read by thedocument creation apparatus 1. This barcode represents informationincluding at least a document ID. Generally, barcodes are roughlyclassified into a class of one-dimensional barcodes, whose bars arrangedonly in one direction represent information, and that of two-dimensionalbarcodes whose bars arranged in two directions represent information.Both classes of barcodes can be utilized when the invention isimplemented. Incidentally, in a case where one barcode includes variousinformation and data in addition to the document ID, it is advisable touse a two-dimensional barcode having larger data capacity, as comparedwith a one-dimensional barcode. In the present embodiment, it is assumedthat a QR-code®, which is a kind of a two-dimensional barcode and is inwidespread use, is used as an example.

The retrieval portion 13 performs the retrieval of data stored in thedatabase portion 14. The database portion 14 stores various data. Thedatabase portion 14 is constituted by using, for example, a hard diskdrive.

The document management control portion 15 controls various processingoperations relating to document management. The document managementcontrol portion 15 controls processing operations of the user interfaceportion 11, the barcode analysis portion 12, the retrieval portion 13and the database portion 14 according to a preliminarily installedcontrol program.

The network interface 16 is a communication interface through which datatransmission and reception to and from other apparatuses (including thedocument creation apparatus 1 and the document destruction apparatus 3)on the network 4 are performed. The data transmission and receptionusing the network interface 16 are controlled by the document managementcontrol portion 15.

First Mechanical Embodiment Document Destruction and DiscardingApparatus

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a first example of themechanism of the document destruction apparatus 3. The documentdestruction apparatus 3 is constituted by using, for instance, ashredder. The document destruction apparatus 3 includes a document trayportion 17, an insertion sensor 18, a reading optical system 19 of abarcode reader, a stopper gate 20, feed rolls 21 and 22, a pass sensor23, and a shredder portion 24.

The document tray portion 17 serves as a part on which a document to bedestroyed is placed. The document tray portion 17 is formed to beinclined to a horizontal plane and to become gradually lowered towardthe stopper gate 20. An inner side (a lower side) of the document trayportion 17, together with the insertion sensor 18, the reading opticalsystem 19, the stopper gate 20, and the feed roll 21, are covered with acover member (not shown).

The insert sensor 18 senses that the document is inserted at apredetermined position on the document tray portion 17. The“predetermined position” means the position where the Q code is arrangedin a code reading area with the bar code scanner 19, namely, theposition where the QR code printed on the document can be read by thebar code scanner 19, when the document with the QR code printed isinserted in the normal orientation. The insert sensor 18 is composed ofan optical sensor of the reflection type having a light emitting elementand a light receiving element, for example, and turned on when thedocument exists at a sensing position of the insert sensor 18, or turnedoff when no document exists.

The bar code scanner 19 takes an image of the bar code into an areasensor 25 by applying the light of a light source, not shown, to a barcode recorded part of the document of destruction and discarding objectand receiving a reflected light from the bar code recorded part via alens 26 with the area sensor 25. The bar code recorded part refers tothe part where the bar code including the document ID as one informationis recorded within the plane of the document, in which its position(area) is defined beforehand dimensionally at the corner part of thedocument.

The stopper gate 20 has a long plate-like structure, for example, and isprovided between the insert sensor 18 and the feed rolls 21. The stoppergate 20 opens or closes a document conveying path at an entrance part ofthe document conveying path formed by the feed rolls 21 and 22. In astate where the stopper gate 20 is closed, the stopper gate 20 isdisposed to project over a passage of the document leading from thedocument tray portion 17 to the feed rolls 21 to block the passage.Accordingly, when the document laid on the document tray portion 17 isinserted deeply, the leading edge of the document is pushed against thestopper gate 20. Therefore, if the stopper gate 20 is closed, thedocument is pushed against the stopper gate 20 and prevented from beingtaken into the apparatus, even when the user thrusts the documentcarelessly. Also, it is desirable that the stopper gate 20 is pushed atleast two points of the document in the width direction (or directionorthogonal to the document insertion direction) or over the entire widthso that the document may not be subjected to a useless inclination orrotational force when the document is pushed against the stopper gate20. On the contrary, in a state where the stopper gate 20 is opened, thestopper gate 20 is withdrawn from the passage to retreat from thepassage of document leading from the document tray 17 to the feed rolls21. Accordingly, if the document laid on the document tray portion 17 isinserted more deeply, the leading edge of the document is pushed againstthe nip part of the feed rolls 21.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating the document tray portion 17, which istaken from above. Insertion guides 28 and 29 are provided on both sidesin an insertion direction (the direction of an arrow), in which thedocument 27 is manually inserted, of the document tray portion 17. Theinsertion guides 28 and 29 have guide faces 28A and 29A, each of whichis parallel to the insertion direction of the document, respectively.Between the insertion guides, the insertion guide 28 is provided in afixed state. However, the insertion guide 29 is provided movably in thedirection of width of the document (an up-down direction, as viewed inFIG. 5) according to need. The document 27 to be destroyed is insertedin the direction of the arrow into the document tray portion 17 in anorientation in which the barcode recording part 30 is placed at aleading-end-side corner portion thereof. At that time, to position thedocument 27 in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction, oneside edge of the document 27 is made to abut against and move along theguide face 28A of the insertion guide 28.

Consequently, in a state in which the document 27 is manually fed by theuser so that the end thereof abuts against the stopper gate 20, thebarcode recording part 30 is positioned in a code reading area E inwhich a barcode is read by the barcode reader. Also, the insertionsensor 18 is placed just short of the stopper gate 20. Thus, when an endof the document 27 manually fed by the user abuts against the stoppergate 20, the state of the insertion sensor 18 is changed from anoff-state to an on-state just before the end of the document 27 abutsagainst the stopper gate 20. Consequently, timing, with which theinsertion sensor 18 is turned on, indicates that with which the barcoderecording portion 30 of the document 27 is placed in the code readingarea E.

The feed roll 21 rotates while nipping the document inserted by openingthe stopper gate 20. Thus, the document is conveyed along the documentconveying path. The document conveying path is formed by using aconveying guide member (not shown), such as a chute. The feed roll 22rotates while nipping the document conveyed by the feed roll 21. Thus,the document is conveyed to the shredder portion 24 along the documentconveying path.

The pass sensor 23 is adapted to detect the passage of a documenthalfway (nearly at the midpoint of) the document conveying pathextending from the feed roll 22 to the shredder portion 24. The passsensor 23 is constituted by, for example, an optical sensor of thereflection type having a light emitting device and a light receivingdevice. When a document is present at a sensing position, the passsensor 23 is in an on-state. When a document is absent at the sensingposition, the pass sensor 23 is in an off-state. Therefore, when aleading end of the document passes through the sensing position of thepass sensor 23, the state of the pass sensor 23 is simultaneouslychanged to the off-state to the on-state. Subsequently, when a rear endof the document passes through the sensing position of the pass sensor23, the state of the pass sensor 23 is simultaneously changed to theon-state to the off-state.

The shredder portion 24 shreds a document fed thereto by the feed roll22 while drawing the document thereinto in one direction (the directionof an arrow). The shredder portion 24 can collectively shred amultiple-sheet document (for example, a bundle of about 20 sheets ofA4-size plain paper). The shredder portion 24 can shred a document,whose sheets are stapled with a staple, without change (that is, withoutremoving the staple).

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a first mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises an operation panel 31,a stopper drive section 33, a feeder drive section 34, a shredder drivesection 35, a document destruction and discarding control section 36,and a network interface 37, in addition to the above components.

The operation panel 31 (for the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3) is operated by the user who uses the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3. The operation panel 31 is composed of theoperation buttons (e.g., a start button, a stop button) and a displaypanel for displaying various messages including an operation state ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 and an operationguidance (guide message), for example.

The stopper drive section 33 performs the opening or closing (rising orsetting) operation of the stopper gate 20. The stopper drive section 33may have an electronic plunger as the drive source.

The feeder drive section 34 rotates the feed rolls 21 and 22. The feederdrive section 34 may have a motor as the drive source.

The shredder drive section 35 drives and rotates the shredder portion24. The shredder drive section 35 may have a motor as the drive source.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 controlsvarious processing operations regarding the destruction and discardingof document. This document destruction and discarding control section 36controls the processing operations of the bar code scanner 19, thestopper drive section 33, the feeder drive section 34 and the shredderdrive section 35 in accordance with a given control program. Also, thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36 has the insertsensor 18 and the path sensor 23 electrically connected.

The network interface 37 is a communication interface through which thedocument destruction apparatus 3 transmits and receives data to and fromother apparatuses (including the document creation apparatus 1 and thedocument management apparatus 2) on the network 4. The data transmissionand reception using the network interface 37 are controlled by thedocument destruction control portion 36.

Subsequently, a document management method using the document managementsystem of the aforementioned configuration is described below. First,documents treated by the system according to the invention are createdby the document creation apparatus 1 by assigning a unique document IDto each of the documents. The document ID may be constituted by eitheronly numerals or an appropriate combination of alphanumeric charactersand symbols. Hereinafter, a practical document management method in thecase of treating documents, which are used as exhibits at an accountaudit and a tax inspection, is described.

First, document data (electronic data) representing a template for adocument with a barcode is inputted to the document creation apparatus1. The document data is outputted at the image output portion 8 by beingprinted on a sheet of paper. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 7A, a mountcorresponding to a payment application 38 is created. The document datamay be generated by, for instance, the document management apparatus 2.Then, the generated document data may be inputted to the documentcreation apparatus 1 through the network 4 from the document managementapparatus 2. Alternatively, the document data may be generated by aserver apparatus used to document data. Then, the generated documentdata may be inputted to the document creation apparatus 1 through thenetwork from the server apparatus.

A QR-code 39 including a document ID assigned to a payment application38 as a piece of information is added to a corner portion of the paymentapplication 38, which is created by the document creation apparatus 1,by printing. That is, the payment application 38 created by the documentcreation apparatus 1 corresponds to a “document to which a document IDis added”. A region 40, on which a receipt is mounted, is provided inthe mount corresponding to the payment application 38. Thus, asillustrated in FIG. 7B, a receipt 41 is attached onto the mountcorresponding to the payment application 38. According to need, anapplicant performs a retouch and apposition of a seal (or impression ofa seal) thereon. Thus, an original of the payment application 38 iscreated.

Upon completion of creating the payment application 38, the createdpayment application 38 is set on the original table of the documentcreation apparatus 1. Then, an image of the payment application 38 isread by the image reading portion 6. Alternatively, creation informationis sent from the document creation apparatus 1 to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 through the network 4, so that the creationinformation is registered in the apparatus 2 as data. Then, image datarepresenting the payment application 38, which is read by the imagereading portion, is transmitted to the document management apparatus 2through the network 4. Upon completion of reading, the original of thepayment application 38 is stored in a file or the like.

On the other hand, the document management apparatus 2 having receivedthe image data (or scan data) representing the payment application 38from the document creation apparatus 1 causes the database portion 14 tostore the image data. Also, an image representing the QR-code includedin the image data is analyzed by the barcode analysis portion 12. Thus,decode information representing the document ID assigned to the paymentapplication 38 is obtained. Then, the obtained document ID is registeredin the document management table by the document management controlportion 15. The document management table is created in the databaseportion 14.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the document managementtable. As illustrated in this figure, the document ID, the documentcreation date and time, the document storage time, and the documentdestruction date and time are registered in the document managementtable by being associated with one another. In the case of registeringthe document creation date and time and the document destruction dateand time, it is preferable to use a standard time obtained from a timedistribution server or a time authentication server. Data obtained bydecoding the QR-code in the barcode analysis portion 12 may beregistered as the document ID. Alternatively, data assigned to theaforementioned document with the barcode by the document managementapparatus itself 2 or another server apparatus when the documentmanagement apparatus 2 or the latter server apparatus generates suchdocument data. The document creation data and time indicates a date andtime, at which the document is created. According to the presentembodiment, a date and time, at which the document creation apparatus 1transmits the image data read from the document, such as the paymentapplication 38, to the document management apparatus 2, or a date andtime, at which the image data transmitted from the document creationapparatus 1 is received by the document management apparatus 2, isassumed to be registered as the “document creation date and time”.

The document storage time indicates the date and time representing thedocument storage time. It is necessary to store the document, whosedocument ID is registered in the document management table, until thedocument storage time expires. Incidentally, in a case where thedocument storage time is registered as being “permanent”, the documentcan be destroyed at any time. In a case where the document storage timeis registered as being “non-designated”, the document cannot bedestroyed at all times.

Generally, the storage time of a receipt is determined according to areceived amount of money. Thus, in a case where information for settingthe document storage time is included in, for instance, the QR-codeprinted on the payment application 38 in addition to informationrepresenting the document ID, the document storage time canautomatically be set from the decode information obtained by the barcodeanalysis portion 12. Practically, the date and time corresponding to 6years reckoned from the date and time, at which the payment application38 is created, can be set as the document storage time by causing theQR-code to include information designating 6 years as the documentstorage time of the payment application 38. Another way is that theQR-code is caused to include information representing the receivedamount of money described in the receipt that is attached to the paymentapplication 38. Thus, the storage time of the receipt is automaticallycalculated from this information and can be set in the documentmanagement table as the document storage time. Additionally, a user canset or change the document storage time in the document management tableby performing a manual input (operation) and using the user interfaceportion 11 of the document management apparatus 2.

The document destruction date and time indicates a date and time atwhich a document is destroyed. The destruction of the document isperformed by the document destruction apparatus 3. Thus, a date andtime, at which the document destruction apparatus 3 sends to thedocument management apparatus 2 a notification (hereunder referred toalso as a “destruction completion notification”) indicating thatdestruction of the document, whose document ID is designated, iscompleted, is registered in the document management table as thedocument destruction date and time.

Incidentally, the system may be configured so that a user ID of a userhaving created a document by using the document creation apparatus 1 isregistered in the document management table as data indicating adocument creator, and that a user ID of a user having destroyed adocument by using the document destruction apparatus 3 is registered inthe document management table as data indicating a document destroyer.In this case, ID information on a user having created or destroyed adocument can be obtained by utilizing existing user authenticationtechniques (for example, the user authentication technique using an ICcard).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in destroying anddiscarding the document in the first mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. This documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 has a normal destruction anddiscarding mode in which the code information (document ID) is not readand a scan destruction and discarding mode in which the code informationis read. And the flowchart of FIG. 9 represents the processing procedurein the scan destruction and discarding mode.

In the normal destruction and discarding mode, when the start buttonprovided on the operation panel 31 is pressed, the document destructionand discarding control section 36 instructs the stopper drive section33, the feeder driver section 34 and the shredder drive section 35 tostart the driving to open the stopper gate, and start the driving of thefeed rolls 21 and 22 and the shredder portion 24. Thereby, if the userwho uses the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 lays thedocument of destruction and discarding object on the document trayportion 17 and inserts it deeply, the leading edge of the document isnipped by the feed rolls 21, pulled into the inside of the apparatus,directly conveyed by the feed rolls 21 and 22, and shredded by theshredder portion 24.

Also, if the stop button of the operation panel 31 is depressed by theuser after the start button of the operation panel 31 is depressed, or apredetermined time passes since the start button is depressed, thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36 instructs thestopper drive section 33, the feeder drive section 34 and the shredderdrive section 35 to stop the driving to restore the stopper gate 20 toits original projecting state, and stop the driving of the feed rolls 21and 22 and the shredder portion 24. Thereby, the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3 returns to a standby state again.

On the contrary, in the scan destruction and discarding mode, the userwho uses the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 lays thedocument of destruction and discarding object on the document trayportion 17 and inserts it deeply. At this time, if the QR code isprinted on the document of destruction and discarding object, thedocument is inserted in an orientation where the print face of the QRcode is on the top face (face up) and the printed part of the QR code ison the downstream side (deep side) in the thrusting direction. Then, asignal of the insert sensor 18 is switched from the off state to the onstate immediately before the leading edge of the document is pushedagainst the stopper gate 20.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (step S1).If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user inserts (thrusts) thedocument, an instruction of reading the bar code is issued to the barcode reader 32. And the bar code reader 32 reads the QR code printed onthe document in accordance with this reading instruction (step S2).

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 judgeswhether or not the reading of the QR code is successful (step S3).Whether or not the reading of the QR code is successful is judged basedon whether or not the document ID is normally decoded by the bar codescanner 19 from the QR code printed on the document. There are mainlytwo cases where the bar code scanner 19 fails in reading the QR code.The first case occurs when the QR code is not originally printed on thedocument, or when the QR code does not exist in the code reading area E(see FIG. 5) (case of no code) because the orientation of inserting thedocument (front/back of the document, leading edge/trailing edge of thedocument) is unsuitable. The second case occurs when the QR code existsin the code reading area E but the QR code is remarkably contaminated orbroken, or when the decode information of the QR code does not containthe document ID (case of code defect).

If the reading of the QR code is successful (Yes at step S3), an inquiryas to whether or not the document specified by the document ID containedin this QR code is permitted to destroy and discard is made to thedocument management apparatus 2 (step S4). The inquiry for the documentdestruction and discarding permission is made by creating an inquirymessage for destruction and discarding permission with the document IDcontained in the QR code read by the bar code scanner 19 designated, andtransmitting this inquiry message from the network interface 37 via thenetwork 4 to the document management apparatus 2. That is, the inquiryfor the document destruction and discarding permission means the inquiryas to whether or not the document specified by the document IDdesignated in this inquiry may be destroyed and discarded. In thisconnection, if the reading of the QR code is successful, the informationcontained in this QR code may be simply displayed on the operation panel31.

In the document management apparatus 2 receiving the inquiry message,the retrieval section 13 retrieves whether or not the document IDdesignated in the inquiry message is registered in the documentmanagement table. If the applicable document ID exists, the documentstorage period registered associated with the document ID is checked.And if the date and time (inquiry date and time) when the inquiry fordocument destruction and discarding permission is received from thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 passes the documentstorage period, an answer message indicating that the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given to the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 is returned. Also, if the dataand time when the inquiry for document destruction and discardingpermission is received from the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 does not pass the document storage period, an answer messageindicating that the document destruction and discarding permission isnot given to the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 (thedestruction and discarding of the document is inhibited) is returned.

Thus, if the answer message is returned from the document managementapparatus 2, the document destruction and discarding control section 36receives that answer message via the network interface 37, and checkswhether or not the content of the answer message gives the destructionand discarding permission for the document upon the inquiry from theself-apparatus (document destruction and discarding apparatus 3) (stepS5). And if the answer message gives the destruction and discardingpermission for the document, a prepared guidance for document permission(guide message) is displayed on the operation panel 31, and then aninstruction of opening the stopper gate 20 is issued to the stopperdrive section 33 to open the stopper gate 20 (steps S6 and S7). At thistime, the document destruction and discarding control section 36instructs the feeder drive section 34 to start rotating the feed rolls21 and 22, and the feeder drive section 34 starts driving the rotationof the feed rolls 21 and 22 in accordance with this instruction. Oneexample of the destruction and discarding permission guidance may be“This document is destroyed and discarded. Insert the document moredeeply.” In this manner, the destruction and discarding permission guideis displayed to notify the user that the destruction and discarding ofthe document is permitted, whereby the following process continueswithout causing the user to feel incompatible.

Thereafter, if the user thrusts in the document in accordance with theguidance displayed on the operation panel 31, the leading edge of thedocument is pushed against the nip part of the feed rolls 21, and thedocument is fed into the downstream side on the document conveying path,along with the rotation of the feed rolls 21 (step S8). Thus, thedocument fed by the feed rolls 21 is passed to the feed rolls 22 on thedownstream side in the conveying direction, and conveyed to the shredderportion 24, along with the rotation of the feed rolls 22. At this time,the rear end of the document passes by the sensing position of theinsert sensor 18, so that the signal of the insert sensor 18 is switchedfrom the on state to the off state. Then, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 instructs the stopper drive section 35 toreturn the stopper gate 20 at a preset timing (e.g., timing when therear end of the document gets rid of the feed roll 21), and therebyrestore the stopper gate 20 to its original state (closed state).

Also, the leading edge of the document passes by the sensing position ofthe path sensor 23 during the conveyance of the document by the feedrolls 22, so that the path sensor 23 is switched from the off state tothe on state. Then, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 makes an instruction of starting the driving to the shredderdrive section 35, and the shredder drive section 35 starts the drivingof the shredder portion 24 upon receiving the instruction. Accordingly,the document fed by the feed roll 22 is directly taken by the shredderportion 24, and shredded through the shred process (destruction anddiscarding process) (step S9).

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the path sensor 23, so that the path sensor 23 is switched from theon state to the off state. Then, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 transmits a message of destruction and discardingcompletion notification that the destruction and discarding of thedocument is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the path sensor 23 is turned off (specifically the time takensince the rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24till the entire document is shredded) (step S10). The destruction anddiscarding completion notification message is transmitted from thenetwork interface 37 via the network 4 to the document managementapparatus 2. On the contrary, the document management apparatus 2receiving the destruction and discarding completion notification messagefrom the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 registers thedate and time when the message is received in the column of documentdestruction and discarding date and time as the destruction anddiscarding history information corresponding to the document IDdesignated in the message.

On the other hand, if the reading of the QR code is unsuccessful at stepS3, a prepared reading impossible guidance is displayed on the operationpanel 31 (step S1). One example of the reading impossible guidance maybe “A code reading error occurred. Pull out the document.” Also, if thedocument destruction and discarding permission is not given from thedocument management apparatus 2 at step S5, a prepared destruction anddiscarding impermissible guidance is displayed on the operation panel 31(step S12). One example of the destruction and discarding impermissibleguidance may be “This document can not be destroyed and discarded,because the document storage period is not reached. Pull out thedocument.” In this manner, the destruction and discarding impermissibleguidance is displayed to notify the user that the destruction anddiscarding of the document is not permitted, whereby the followingprocess continues without causing the user to feel incompatible. Also,after the destruction and discarding completion notification istransmitted, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3directly returns to the standby state. However, after the readingimpossible guidance is displayed at step S11, or the destruction anddiscarding impermissible guidance is displayed at step S12, the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns to the standby state ifthe insert sensor 18 is switched form the on state to the off state (theuser takes the document out of the document tray portion 17).

Second Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 10 is a schematic view showing a second mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3. This documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises a set sensor 32, apull-in roll 43, a separation member 44, a branch gate 45, an exhaustingroll 46 and an output tray portion 47, in addition to the sameconstitution as the first mechanical embodiment (document tray portion17, insert sensor 18, bar code scanner 19, stopper gate 20, feed rolls21 and 22, path sensor 23, shredder portion 24).

The set sensor 32 senses whether or not the document is set (laid) onthe document tray portion 17. The set sensor 32 is composed of anoptical sensor of the reflection type having a light emitting elementand a light receiving element, for example. The set sensor 32 is placedin the on state when the document exists at the sensing position of theset sensor 32, or in the off state when no document exists.

The pull-in roll 43 pulls the documents in order from the uppermostlevel into the stopper gate 20 to automatically convey the document seton the document tray portion 17. The separation member 44 separates thedocuments so that the documents may be pulled in one by one in order bythe pull-in roll 43.

The branch gate 45 switches the traveling direction of the documentconveyed along the document conveying path at a branch part of thedocument conveying path bifurcated on the downstream side of the feedroll 21. That is, the branch gate 45 switches the traveling direction ofthe document conveyed by the feed roll 21 into any one of the firstdirection toward the feed roll 22 and the second direction toward theexhausting roll 46.

The exhausting roll 46 exhausts the document onto the output trayportion 47. The output tray portion 47 accommodated the documentsexhausted by the exhausting roll 46 by laying them one on the other.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the second mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3. This documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises the set sensor 32, apull-in drive section 48, and a branch gate drive section 49, inaddition to the same constitution as the first mechanical embodiment(operation panel 31, bar code scanner 19, stopper drive section 33,feeder drive section 34, shredder drive section 35, document destructionand discarding control section 36 and network interface 37). Also, thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36 has the setsensor 32 electrically connected, in addition to the same sensors(insert sensor 18 and path sensor 23) as the first mechanicalembodiment.

The pull-in drive section 48 drives the pull-in roll 43 to perform theascend or descend operation or rotating operation. The pull-in drivesection 48 may have an electromagnetic plunger for the roll ascending ordescending operation and a motor for the roll rotating operation as thedrive sources.

The branch gate drive section 49 performs the switching operation of thebranch gate 45. The branch gate drive section 49 may have theelectromagnetic plunger as the drive source. The branch gate drivesection 49 normally operates the branch gate 45 so that the travelingdirection of the document may be the first direction (direction towardthe feed roll 22), and operates the branch gate 45 so that the travelingdirection of the document may be the second direction (direction towardthe exhausting roll 46) when there is a switching instruction from thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36.

Also, the exhausting roll 46, like the feed rolls 21 and 22, is drivenand rotated by the feeder drive section 34.

FIGS. 12 and 13 are flowcharts showing a processing procedure indestroying and discarding the document in the second mechanicalembodiment of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3. Thisdocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 has a normal destructionand discarding mode and a scan destruction and discarding mode as in theabove embodiment. And the flowcharts of FIGS. 12 and 13 represent theprocessing procedure in the scan destruction and discarding mode.

In the normal destruction and discarding mode, the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3 is on standby. When the user who uses thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 lays the documents to bedestroyed and discarded on the document tray portion 17, and depressesthe start button of the operation panel 31, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 instructs the pull-in drive section 48,the stopper drive section 33, the feeder driver section 34 and theshredder drive section 35 to start the driving, so that the pullingoperation of the document by the pull-in roll 43 is started, the stoppergate 20 is opened, and the driving of the feed rolls 21 and 22 and theshredder portion 24 is started. Thereby, the documents laid on thedocument tray portion 17 are pulled in orderly from the uppermost level,directly conveyed by the feed rolls 21 and 22, and shredded by theshredder portion 24. And this operation is repeated while there is anydocument left on the document tray portion 17 (the set sensor 32 is on).

Also, if no document is left on the document tray portion 17 and the setsensor 32 is switched from the on state to the off state, the documentdestruction and discarding control section 36 instructs the pull-indrive section 48, the stopper drive section 33, the feeder drive section34 and the shredder drive section 35 to stop the driving, so that thepulling operation of the document by the pull-in roll 43 is ended, thestopper gate 20 is restored to its original state, and the driving ofthe feed rolls 21 and 22 and the shredder portion 24 is stopped.Thereby, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns tothe standby state again.

On the contrary, in the document scan mode, the user who uses thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 lays the documents to bedestroyed and discarded on the document tray portion 17 and depressesthe start button on the operation panel 31 in the same manner as above.The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the set sensor 42 in the standbystate of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 (step S21).If the set sensor 32 is turned on when the user actually sets thedocuments on the document tray portion 17, it is judged whether or notthe start button is depressed in the on state (step S22). And if it isjudged that the start button is depressed, an instruction of pulling thedocuments is made to the pull-in drive section 48 to pull in thedocuments with the rotation of the pull-in roll 43 (step S23). Thereby,the documents to be destroyed and discarded are automatically insertedinto the back side of the apparatus along with the rotation of thepull-in roll 43.

The pulling (insertion) of the document is performed by causing thepull-in roll 43 to descend so that the outer peripheral face of the rollmay contact (press) the uppermost face of the documents laid (set) onthe document tray portion 17 and rotating the pull-in roll 43 in thisstate. At this time, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 continually monitors the signal (on/off state) of the insertsensor 18. If the insert sensor 18 is turned on, an instruction ofstopping the pulling is issued to the pull-in drive section 46immediately after it (at the timing when the leading edge of thedocument makes contact with the stopper gate 20). The pull-in drivesection 46 receiving this instruction once stops the rotation of thepull-in roll 43. Thereby, the document of destruction and discardingobject is conveyed up to the “predetermined position” as previouslydescribed.

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 issuesan instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code reader 32. Andthe bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on the document inaccordance with this reading instruction (step S24). In the case whereone document is treated, the bar code is read while the fed document isstopped at the reading position, or flowing, the information is sent orreceived to or from a database, the information of each document isacquired, and it is judged whether the document is directly destroyedand discarded or outputted onto the output tray 47.

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 judgeswhether or not the reading of the QR code is successful (step S25). Andif the reading of the QR code is successful (Yes at step S25), aninquiry as to whether or not the document specified by the document IDcontained in the QR code is permitted to destroy and discard is made tothe document management apparatus 2 (step S26). An answer message tothat inquiry is received.

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 checkswhether or not the content of the answer message gives the destructionand discarding permission for the document (step S27). If the answermessage gives the destruction and discarding permission for thedocument, a prepared guidance for document permission (guide message) isdisplayed on the operation panel 31, and then an instruction of openingthe stopper gate is issued to the stopper drive section 33 to open thestopper gate 20 (steps S28 and S29). One example of the destruction anddiscarding permission guidance may be “This document is automaticallyconveyed and destroyed and discarded.”

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 issuesan instruction of continuing to pull in the document to the pull-indrive section 48 to resume the rotation (pulling of the document) of thepull-in roll 43, and issues an instruction of starting to rotate thefeed rolls 21 and 22 to the feeder drive section 34 to start driving androtating the feed rolls 21 and 22 and the exhausting roll 46. Thereby,the document pulled in by the pull-in roll 43 is taken in by the feedroll 21, and conveyed to the downstream side of the document conveyingpath, along with the rotation of the feed roll 21. At this time, thebranch gate 45 guides the traveling direction of the document to thefirst direction, so that the document is fed from the feed roll 21 tothe feed roll 22 (step S30).

Thus, the document fed by the feed roll 22 is conveyed to the shredderportion 24, along with the rotation of the feed roll 22. At this time,the rear end of the document passes by the sensing position of theinsert sensor 18, so that the insert sensor 18 is switched from the onstate to the off state. Then, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 instructs the stopper drive section 33 to return thestopper gate at a preset timing (e.g., timing when the rear end of thedocument gets rid of the feed roll 21), and thereby restore the stoppergate 20 to its original state (closed state).

Also, the leading edge of the document passes by the sensing position ofthe path sensor 23, while the feed roll 22 is conveying the document, sothat the path sensor 23 is switched from the off state to the on state.Then, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 makesan instruction of starting the driving to the shredder drive section 35,and the shredder drive section 35 starts the driving of the shredderportion 24 upon receiving the instruction. Accordingly, the document fedby the feed roll 22 is directly taken by the shredder portion 24, andshredded through the shred process (destruction and discarding process)(step S31).

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the path sensor 23, so that the path sensor 23 is switched from theon state to the off state. Then, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 transmits a message of destruction and discardingcompletion notification that the destruction and discarding of thedocument is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the path sensor 23 is turned off (specifically the time takensince the rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24till the entire document is shredded) (step S32). Thereby, the documentmanagement apparatus 2 receiving the destruction and discardingcompletion notification message from the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3 registers the date and time when the message isreceived in the column of document destruction and discarding date andtime as the destruction and discarding history information correspondingto the document ID designated in the message.

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 checkswhether or not the next document is left on the document tray portion 17(step S33). Specifically, if the set sensor 32 is in the on state, it isjudged that the next document is left, and the procedure returns to stepS23. Also, if the set sensor 32 is in the off state, it is judged thatthe next document is not left, and a series of processes is ended. Afterthe series of processes is ended in this manner, the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns to the standby stateagain.

On the other hand, if the reading of the QR code is unsuccessful at stepS25, a prepared reading impossible guidance is displayed on theoperation panel 31 (step S34). One example of the reading impossibleguidance may be “A code reading error occurred. This document is notdestroyed and discarded but exhausted.” Also, if the documentdestruction and discarding permission is not given from the documentmanagement apparatus 2 at step S27, a prepared destruction anddiscarding impermissible guidance is displayed on the operation panel 31(step S35). One example of the destruction and discarding impermissibleguidance may be “This document can not be destroyed and discarded,because the document storage period is not reached. The document isexhausted onto the output tray.”

After this guidance is displayed, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 issues an instruction of opening thestopper gate 20 to the stopper drive section 33 to open the stopper gate20, and issues an instruction of switching the gate to the branch gatedrive section 49 to cause the branch gate 49 to make the switchingoperation (steps S36 and S37). Next, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 issues an instruction of continuing topull in the document to the pull-in drive section 48 to resume therotation of the pull-in roll 43 (pulling of the document), and issues aninstruction of starting the rotation of the feed rolls 21 and 22 to thefeeder drive section 34 to start driving the rotation of the feed rolls21 and 22 and the exhausting roll 46. Thereby, the document pulled in bythe pull-in roll 43 is taken in by the feed roll 21, and forwarded tothe downstream side of the document conveying path along with therotation of the feed roll 21. At this time, since the branch gate 45guides the traveling direction of the document to the second direction,the document is fed from the feed roll 21 to the exhausting roll 46, andexhausted onto the output tray portion 47, along with the rotation ofthe exhausting roll 46 (steps S38 and S39). Thereafter, the proceduretransfers to step S33.

While the document that fails to read the QR code and the document thatis not given a document destruction and discarding permission from thedocument management apparatus 2 are exhausted onto the common (same)output tray section 47 in this embodiment, the document that fails toread the QR code and the document that is not given a documentdestruction and discarding permission from the document managementapparatus 2 may be exhausted onto different output tray sections,employing a switching operation of the document conveying path(conveying direction) with a branch gate 45.

In the document management system as described above, the document IDappended to the document is managed corresponding to the documentstorage period in the document management apparatus 2, in which when thedocument is destroyed and discarded employing the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3, the document ID contained in the QR code isacquired by reading the QR code printed on the document of destructionand discarding object with a bar code scanner 19, an inquiry as towhether or not the document specified by this document ID is permittedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2,and if an answer content to this inquiry is to give a destruction anddiscarding permission, the destruction and discarding process for thedocument is performed in the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3. Therefore, the person in charge does not need to confirmthe possibility of destroying and discarding the document every time asconventionally performed, and the document in which the storage periodhas expired can be securely destroyed and discarded. Also, it ispossible to avoid falsely destroying and discarding the document due toan artificial check error.

Also, for the document generated employing the document generationapparatus 1, the document ID appended to the document is managedassociated with the document storage period in the document managementapparatus 2, whereby it is possible to make the management consistentlyfrom the generation to the destruction and discarding of the document.

Also, when the destruction and discarding process (shredding process)for the document is made in the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3, a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification with the document ID of the document designated istransmitted to the document management apparatus 2, and the documentmanagement apparatus 2 receiving its notification message registers thedocument destruction and discarding date and time as the destruction anddiscarding history information corresponding to the applicable documentID in the document management table, whereby the date and time when thedocument is actually destroyed and discarded can be left as the history,together with the fact that the document is destroyed and discarded.Moreover, the user ID information of the person who disposes of documentin charge of destroying and discarding the document can be acquired bythe user authentication technique and left as one destruction anddiscarding history information. As a result, it is possible to confirmlater when and by whom the document designated by the certain documentID is destroyed and discarded.

Also, when the document generation process (printing process) isperformed in the document generation apparatus 1, the date and time whenthe document is generated and the user ID information of the documentcreator in charge of generating the document are registered along withthe document ID of the document in the document management table of thedocument management apparatus 2, whereby it is possible to confirm laterwhen and by whom the document designated by the certain document ID isdestroyed and discarded.

Further, as an application example employing the user authenticationtechnique, the ID information of the user who employs the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 is acquired, and the user IDinformation is transmitted to the document management apparatus 2 beforethe user actually starts the document destruction and discardingoperation (opens a stopper gate 20), whereby as a result of theretrieval section 13 making the retrieval process, if the user IDinformation transmitted from the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 does not exist in a use permission user ID list (list ofregistering the user ID permitted to use the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3) previously registered in the database section 14a message indicating that the user is not given a use permission isdisplayed on the operation panel 31, and the stopper gate 20 is keptclosed, so that the user of the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 can be limited by designating the person in charge ofdestroying and discarding the document.

Also, in the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 of manualinsertion feed type, a plurality of documents (bunches) can be destroyedand discarded collectively even with the staples attached at a time. Onthe other hand, in the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3of automatic feed type, only if the user sets the documents on thedocument tray section 17 and depresses the start button, the documentdestruction and discarding process can be automatically performed whilethe user checks the possibility of destroying and discarding thedocument for each document without intervening the operation. Thedocument not permitted to destroy and discard is exhausted onto theoutput tray 47.

While the QR code including the document ID is printed on the documentin the above embodiment, the invention is not limited thereto, but thenumber or symbol indicating the document ID may be printed on thedocument. Also, the appendage of the document ID on the document is notlimited to printing, but the document ID may be appended by labeling onthe document.

Also, while in the above embodiment the stopper gate 20 is kept closedand the document is pushed against the stopper gate 20 and stopped atthe position where the document ID can be read, a pair of rolls, namely,a delivery roll 50 and a retard roll (double delivery prevention roll)51, as the gate member instead of the stopper gate 20, may be disposedin the nipped state, whereby the document may be pushed against the nippart in a state where the delivery roll 50 and the retard roll 51 arestopped, and stopped at the position where the document ID can be read,as shown in FIG. 14.

In the case where this constitution is adopted for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 of manual insertion type, whenthe document is fed by receiving a destruction and discarding permissionof the document, the delivery roll 50 and the retard roll 51 are rotatedso that one pair of rolls also serve as the rolls for feeding thedocument. Therefore, the feeding of the document can be started by therotation of the delivery roll 50. Accordingly, it is possible to transitto the document feeding operation after receiving a destruction anddiscarding permission of the document.

Also, at least one of the pair of rolls, for example, the delivery roll50, is provided to be movable in the arrow direction, so that the nippart with the retard roll 51 can be opened or closed. Therefore, whenthe document is destroyed and discarded in the normal destruction anddiscarding mode, the delivery roll 50 is spaced from the retard roll 51,so that a plurality of documents (bunches) can be taken in withoutproblem. Further, for the document destruction and discarding apparatus3 of automatic feed type (see FIG. 10), the stopper gate 20 may bedirectly left as the gate member, and the delivery roll 50 and theretard roll 51 may be provided instead of a separation member 44.

FIG. 15: Sequence Diagram)

If an IC card is set in the IC card reader provided for the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus, the IC card reader reads theidentification information, and the identification information of the ICcard is passed to a control device. Also, the paper (or sheaf of papers)to be destroyed and discarded is set on the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus. A QR code reader reads and analyzes the QR codeprinted on the paper. An analyzed value of the QR code is passed to thecontrol device. A retrieval program for the database is started with theQR code analyzed value and the identification information of the IC cardas the arguments from the controller.

A database retrieval program retrieves the user record from the databasewith the identification information as the key. The database retrievalprogram confirms the presence or absence of the user registration. Theuser registration of (presence or absence) is a cancellation flag(TRUE/FALSE). The database retrieval program acquires the “X (amount ofmoney), Y (document registration date)” from the database, based on theQR code analyzed value. The value such that for the acquired value X,(if X>=A, TRUE) or (if X<A, FALSE), and for Y, (if Y>=B, TRUE) or (ifY<B, FALSE) is acquired, and the destruction and discarding conditionsset in the parameter file are compared (FIG. 16). If the destruction anddiscarding conditions are met, the database retrieval program returnsthe destruction and discarding information to the control device.

The control device lowers the gate of the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus. The set paper is taken into the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus, and destroyed and discarded. Ifthe document is destroyed and discarded, a destruction and discardingcompletion notification is returned to the control device. The controldevice starts a database write program with the QR code analyzed valueand the identification information of the IC card as the arguments. Thedatabase write program retrieves the user recorded from the databasewith the identification information as the key. The database writeprogram receives the user information. The database write program writesthe “destroyed and discarded flag”, “destruction and discarding date andtime” and “destruction and discarding performer” in a record of thedatabase corresponding to the QR code analyzed value. The database writeprogram returns the written result to the control device.

Third Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 17 is a schematic view showing a third mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19, a stopper gate20, the feed rolls 21 and 22, a path sensor 23 and a shredder portion24.

The document tray portion 17 is the portion where the documents to bedestroyed and discarded are laid. The document tray portion 17 isinclined obliquely on the horizontal plane to be gradually lower towardthe stopper gate 20. The depth side (lower side) of the document trayportion 17 is covered with a cover member, not shown, together with theinsert sensor 18, the bar code scanner 19, the stopper gate 20 and thefeed roll 21.

The insert sensor 18 senses that the document is inserted into apredetermined position on the document tray portion 17. The insertsensor 18 is composed of an optical sensor of the reflection type havinga light emitting element and a light receiving element, for example, andturned on when the document exists at the sensing position of the insertsensor 18, or turned off when no document exists.

The bar code scanner 19 takes an image of the bar code into an areasensor 25 by applying the light of a light source, not shown, to a barcode recorded part of the document of destruction and discarding objectand receiving a reflected light from the bar code recorded part via alens 26 with the area sensor 25. The bar code recorded part refers tothe part where the bar code including the document ID as one informationis recorded within the plane of the document, in which its position(area) is defined beforehand dimensionally at the corner part of thedocument.

The stopper gate 20 has a long plate-like structure, for example, and isprovided between the insert sensor 18 and the feed rolls 21. The stoppergate 20 opens or closes an entrance of a document conveying path at theentrance part of the document conveying path formed by the feed rolls 21and 22. In a state where the stopper gate 20 is closed, the stopper gate20 is disposed to project over a passage of the document leading fromthe document tray portion 17 to the feed roll 21 to block the passage.Accordingly, when the document laid on the document tray portion 17 isinserted deeply, the leading edge of the document is pushed against thestopper gate 20. On the contrary, in a state where the stopper gate 20is opened, the stopper gate 20 is withdrawn from the passage andretracted from the passage of document leading from the document tray 17to the feed rolls 21. Accordingly, if the document laid on the documenttray portion 17 is inserted more deeply, the leading edge of thedocument is pushed against the nip part of the feed rolls 21.

FIG. 18 is a view of the document tray portion 17, as seen from theabove. The document tray portion 17 is provided with the insertionguides 28 and 29 on both sides thereof in the insertion direction (arrowdirection) where the document 27 is inserted manually. The insertionguides 28 and 29 have the guide faces 28A and 29A in parallel to theinsertion direction of the document. Among them, the insertion guide 28is fixed, and the insertion guide 29 is provided movably in the widthdirection (vertical direction in FIG. 15) of the document, as needed.The document 27 to be destroyed and discarded is inserted in the arrowdirection into the document tray portion 17 in an orientation where thebar code recorded part 30 is placed at the corner part on the top side.

At this time, one side end of the document 27 is contacted with theguide face 28A of the insertion guide 28 to position the document 27 inthe direction orthogonal to the insertion direction.

Thereby, the bar code recorded part 30 is positioned within a codereading area E with the bar code scanner 19 in a state where the leadingedge of the document 27 is pushed against the stopper gate 20 by manualinsertion of the user. Also, the insert sensor 18 is disposed in frontof (directly close to) the stopper gate 20 in the insertion direction ofthe document. Therefore, when the leading edge of the document 27manually inserted by the user is pushed against the stopper gate 20, theinsert sensor 18 is switched from the off state to the on stateimmediately before it. Thereby, the timing when the insert sensor 18 isturned on indicates the timing when the bar code recorded part 30 of thedocument 27 is disposed within the code reading area E.

The feed roll 21 conveys the document along the document conveyingpassage by rotating while nipping (pinching) the document inserted byopening the stopper gate 20. The document conveying passage is formedemploying a conveying guide member (chute), not shown. The feed roll 22conveys the document along the document conveying passage to theshredder portion 24 by rotating while nipping the document conveyed bythe feed roll 21.

The path sensor 23 senses the document passing midway (at almost middlepoint) on the document conveying passage leading from the feed rolls 22to the shredder portion 24. The path sensor 23 is composed of an opticalsensor of the reflection type having a light emitting element and alight receiving element, for example. The path sensor 23 is placed inthe on state when the document exists at a sensing position of the pathsensor 23, or in the off state when no document exists. Accordingly,when the front end of the document passes by the sensing position of thepath sensor 23, the path sensor 23 is switched from the off state to theon state at the same time, and thereafter, when the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the path sensor 23, the pathsensor 23 is switched from the on state to the off state at the sametime.

The shredder portion 24 cuts (shreds) the document while pulling thedocument fed by the feed rolls 22 in one direction (arrow direction).This shredder portion 24 can perform a shredding process for a pluralityof documents (e.g., a sheaf of about 20 documents of A4 size)collectively. Also, the shredder portion 24 can perform the shreddingprocess for the document subjected to the stapling process by staples inits as-is state (without removing the staples).

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the third mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3. This documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises an operation panel 31,a bar code scanner 19, a stopper drive section 33, a feeder drivesection 34, a shredder drive section 35, a mode selection section 42, adocument destruction and discarding control section 36 and a networkinterface 37, in addition to the components as described above.

The operation panel 31 is operated by the user who uses the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3. The operation panel 31 iscomposed of the operation buttons (e.g., a start button, a stop button)and a display panel for displaying various messages including anoperation state of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3and an operation guidance (guide message), for example. The operationpanel 31 has a mode switching button 31A as one of the operationbuttons. The mode switching button 31A is the button for making aninstruction of switching the destruction and discarding mode that occursin the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The bar code scanner 19 optically reads the bar code printed on thedocument employing the bar code scanner 19, and outputs the originalinformation (data) stored in the bar code within the document, based onthe read result.

The stopper drive section 33 performs the opening or closing (rising orsetting) operation of the stopper gate 20. The stopper drive section 33may have an electronic plunger as the drive source.

The feeder drive section 34 rotates the feed rolls 21 and 22. The feederdrive section 34 may have a motor as the drive source.

The shredder drive section 35 drives and rotates the shredder portion24. The shredder drive section 35 may have a motor as the drive source.

The mode selection section 42 selects any one of two destruction anddiscarding modes that the document destruction and discarding apparatus3 has. Of the two destruction and discarding modes that the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 has, the first destruction anddiscarding mode is the mode for making the destruction and discardingprocess for the document without reading the document ID of the documentof destruction and discarding object. The second destruction anddiscarding mode is the mode for making the destruction and discardingprocess for the document when a destruction and discarding permission isgiven from the document management apparatus 2 by making an inquiry forthe destruction and discarding permission for the document to thedocument management apparatus 2 with the read document ID designatedwithout reading the document ID of the document of destruction anddiscarding object.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 controlsvarious processing operations involving the destruction and discardingof document in accordance with a given control program. Also, thisdocument destruction and discarding control section 36 performs thedestruction and discarding process for the document in the destructionand discarding mode selected by the mode selection section 42. Thisdocument destruction and discarding control section 36 has the operationpanel 31, the bar code scanner 19, the stopper drive section 33, thefeeder drive section 34 and the shredder drive section 35 which areelectrically connected. Also, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 has the insert sensor 18, the path sensor 23, and themode selection section 42 which are electrically connected.

The network interface 37 is a communication interface for enabling thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 to make the datatransmission and reception with other apparatuses (including thedocument generation apparatus 1 and the document management apparatus 2)on the network 4. The data transmission and reception through thenetwork interface 37 is controlled by the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36.

Next, a document management method employing the document managementsystem with the above configuration will be described below. First ofall, the document treated in the invention is assigned an intrinsicdocument ID and generated by the document generation apparatus 1. Thedocument ID may be composed of numerals alone, or an appropriatecombination of numerals and alphabets or symbols. In the following, aspecific management method in treating the document that is a voucherfor auditing or tax inspection will be described.

First of all, the document data (electronic data) with bar code that isa pattern of the document is inputted into the document generationapparatus 1, and the document data is printed on the paper by an imageoutput section 8, whereby the grounded paper for the payment application38 as shown in FIG. 20A is created. The document data may be created onthe document management apparatus 2, and inputted from this documentmanagement apparatus 2 via the network 4 into the document generationapparatus 1, or separately the document data may be created on a serverapparatus for creating the document data, and inputted from this serverapparatus via the network 4 into the document generation apparatus 1.

Thus, the QR code 39 including the document ID assigned to the paymentapplication 38 as one information is printed at the corner part of thepayment application 38 that is generated by the document generationapparatus 1. That is, the payment application 38 that is generated bythe document generation apparatus 1 corresponds to the “document withthe document ID appended”. Also, the ground paper of the paymentapplication 38 is provided with an area 40 to attach the receipt.Therefore, the applicant attaches the receipt 41 on the ground paper ofthe payment application 38, as shown in FIG. 20B, and additionallywrites and stamps (seals), as needed, to create the original the paymentapplication.

If the payment application 38 is created in this way, this paymentapplication 38 is set on a manuscript stand of the document generationapparatus 1, and an image of the payment application 38 is read by animage reading section 6. Or the generation information is transmittedfrom the document generation apparatus 1 to the document managementapparatus 2 via the network 4, and registered as the data. Then, theimage data of the payment application 38 read by the image readingsection 6 is transmitted to the document management apparatus 2 via thenetwork 4. Also, the original of the payment application 38 that hasbeen read is bound and stored in a file.

On the other hand, the document management apparatus 2 receiving theimage data (scan data) of the payment application 38 from the documentgeneration apparatus 1 accumulates its image data in the databasesection 14, and the image of the QR code included in the image data isanalyzed by the bar code analysis section 12, whereby the decodeinformation for the document ID assigned to the payment application 38is extracted. The document ID acquired in this way is registered in thedocument management table by the document management control section 15.The document management table is created within the database section 14.

FIG. 21 is a view showing one example of the document management table.The document management table has the document ID, the documentgeneration date and time, the document storage period and the documentdestruction and discarding date and time, which are registeredassociated with each other, as shown in FIG. 21. When the documentgeneration date and time and the document destruction and discardingdate and time are registered, it is desirable that the time is thestandard time acquired from a time distribution server or a timeauthentication server on the Internet via the network 4. The document IDmay be registered by decoding the QR code in the bar code analysissection 12, or when the document data with bar code is created on thedocument management apparatus 2 or another server apparatus, thedocument ID assigned to the document by the document managementapparatus 2 itself, or another server apparatus may be registered. Thedocument generation date and time indicates the date and time when thedocument is generated. In this embodiment, the date and time when thedocument generation apparatus 1 transmits the image data read from thedocument such as the payment application 38 to the document managementapparatus 2, or the document management apparatus 2 receives the imagedata of the document transmitted from the document generation apparatus1 is registered as the “document generation date and time”.

The document storage period indicates the storage period of the documentin date and time. It is required that the document with the document IDregistered in the document management table is stored till the documentstorage period expires. However, if the document storage period isregistered as “no designation”, the document is treated to be destroyedand discarded at any time, or if the document storage period isregistered as “permanent”, the document is treated not to be destroyedand discarded at any time.

Generally, as for the receipt, the storage period is decided by itsreceived amount of money. Therefore, if the information for setting thedocument storage period, in addition to the information of the documentID, is contained in the QR code printed on the payment application 38,for example, the document storage period can be automatically set fromthe decode information of the bar code analysis section 12.Specifically, if the information specifying the document storage periodof the payment application 38 as six years is contained in the QR code,the document storage period can be set to the date and time six yearsafter the generation date and time of the payment application 38.Besides, if the information indicating the received amount of money inthe receipt attached on the payment application 38 is contained in theQR code, the storage period of the receipt can be automatically deducedfrom that information, and set in the document storage period of thedocument management table. Further, the document storage period of thedocument management table can be set or changed by manual input (manualoperation) of the user, employing the user interface 11 provided for thedocument management apparatus 2.

The document destruction and discarding date and time indicates the dateand time when the document is destroyed and discarded. The destructionand discarding of the document is performed by the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3. Therefore, the document destruction anddiscarding date and time of the document management table is registeredin the date and time when a notification of completing the destructionand discarding of the document (hereinafter referred to a “destructionand discarding completion notification”) is issued from the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 to the document managementapparatus 2 by designating the document ID of the document that isdestroyed and discarded.

As for the document management table, the user ID of the user whocreates the document on the document generation apparatus 1 may beregistered as a document creator in the document management table, orthe user ID of the user who destroys and discards the document on thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 may be registered as theperson who destroys and discards the document in the document managementtable. In this case, the ID information of the user who creates ordestroys and discards the document can be acquired employing theexistent user authentication technique (e.g., user authenticationtechnique employing the IC card).

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in destroying anddiscarding the document in the third mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. First of all, if thepower of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is turnedon, the network interface 37 makes a communication establishment requestto the document management apparatus 2 upon a control instruction fromthe document destruction and discarding control section 36 (step S201).At this time, if the document management apparatus 2 normally receivesthe communication establishment request from the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3 via the network 4, the communicationconnection between the document management apparatus 2 and the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 is established. Also, if thedocument management apparatus 2 does not normally receive thecommunication establishment request from the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3 for some cause (e.g., disconnection or trouble ofthe network 4, turning off the document management apparatus 2, systemdown, etc.), the communication connection between the documentmanagement apparatus 2 and the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 is not established.

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 judgeswhether or not the communication establishment with the documentmanagement apparatus 2 is successful (step S202). And if thecommunication establishment is unsuccessful, the mode selection section42 sets the document destruction and discarding mode to the firstdestruction and discarding mode (step S203), while if the communicationestablishment is successful, the mode selection section 42 sets thedocument destruction and discarding mode to the second destruction anddiscarding mode (step S204). Thereafter, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 drives the stopper drive section 33 toclose the stopper gate 20 (step S205).

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 judgeswhether or not the user depresses a mode switching button 31A (makes aninstruction of switching the destruction and discarding mode) (stepS206). If the mode switching mode 31A is depressed (there is aninstruction of switching the destruction and discarding mode), thesetting of the destruction and discarding mode is switched according tothe instruction (step S207). That is, if the destruction and discardingmode before the mode switching button 31A is depressed is set at thefirst destruction and discarding mode, the setting of the destructionand discarding mode is switched from the first destruction anddiscarding mode to the second destruction and discarding mode. Also, ifthe destruction and discarding mode before the mode switching button 31Ais depressed is set at the second destruction and discarding mode, thesetting of the destruction and discarding mode is switched from thesecond destruction and discarding mode to the first destruction anddiscarding mode.

On the contrary, if the mode switching button 31A is not depressed, itis judged whether or not the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor18 is turned on (step S208). Herein, the user who employs the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 lays the document of destructionand discarding object on the document tray section 17, and inserts itdeeply. Also, if the QR code is printed on the document of destructionand discarding object, the document is inserted in an orientation wherethe print face of the QR code is on the top face (upward), and theprinted part of the QR code is on the downstream side (deep side) in theinsertion direction. Then, the signal of the insert sensor 18 isswitched from the off state to the on state immediately before theleading edge of the document is pushed against the stopper gate 20.Thus, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 returnsto step S206, if the signal of the insert sensor 18 is in the off state,and judges whether or not the current destruction and discarding modeselected (set) by the mode selection section 42 is the first destructionand discarding mode (step S209), if the signal of the insert sensor 18is in the on state.

Herein, the document destruction and discarding control section 36performs the document destruction and discarding process in accordancewith the first destruction and discarding mode (step S210), if thecurrent destruction and discarding mode is set at the first destructionand discarding mode, and returns to step S206. Also, the documentdestruction and discarding control section 36 performs the documentdestruction and discarding process in accordance with the seconddestruction and discarding mode (step S211), if the current destructionand discarding mode is set at the second destruction and discardingmode, and returns to step S206.

FIG. 23 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing the documentdestruction and discarding process in accordance with the firstdestruction and discarding mode at step S210. First of all, the documentdestruction and discarding control section 36 drives the stopper drivesection 33 to open the stopper gate 20 (step S301). At this time, thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36 issues aninstruction of starting to rotate the feed rolls 21 and 22, and thefeeder drive section 34 starts to rotate the feed rolls 21 and 22 inaccordance with this instruction.

Accordingly, the document thrust in by the user is fed to the downstreamside of the document conveying path, along with the rotation of the feedrolls 21 (step S302). In this way, the document fed by the feed rolls 21is passed to the feed rolls 22 on the more downstream side in theconveying direction, and conveyed to the shredder portion 24 along withthe rotation of the feed rolls 22. At this time, if the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the insert sensor 18, so thatthe insert sensor 18 is switched from the on state to the off state, thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36 drives thestopper drive section 33 at a predetermined timing (e.g., the timingwhen the rear end of the document gets rid of the feed rolls 21),returning the stopper gate 20 to the original state (closed state).

Also, if the leading edge of the document passes by the sensing positionof the path sensor 23 during the conveyance with the feed rolls 22, sothat the path sensor 23 is switched from the on state to the off state,the document destruction and discarding control section 36 makes aninstruction of starting the driving to the shredder drive section 35,and the shredder drive section 35 receiving this instruction starts todrive the shredder portion 24. Accordingly, the document fed by the feedrolls 22 is directly taken in by the shredder portion 24, and shreddedthrough the shredding process (step S303).

FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a procedure for performing the documentdestruction and discarding process in accordance with the seconddestruction and discarding mode at step S311. First of all, thedestruction and discarding control section 36 makes an instruction ofreading the bar code to the bar code scanner 19, and the bar codescanner 19 reads the QR code printed on the document in accordance withthis reading instruction (step S311).

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 36 judgeswhether or not the reading of the QR code is successful (step S312).Whether or not the reading of the QR code is successful is judgeddepending on whether or not the document ID is normally decoded from theQR code printed on the document by the bar code scanner 19. There aresupposedly mainly two cases where the bar code scanner 19 fails inreading the QR code. The first case occurs where the QR code is notoriginally printed on the document, or the QR code does not exist in thecode reading area E (see FIG. 18) (case of no code) because theorientation of inserting the document (face up or down, or from the topend or rear end of the document) is inappropriate. The second caseoccurs where the QR code exists in the code reading area E but isremarkably contaminated or broken, or the decode information of the QRcode does not include the document ID (case of code defect).

When the reading of the QR code is successful, an inquiry as to whetheror not the document designated by the document ID contained in this QRcode is permitted to destroy and discard is issued to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 (step S313). The inquiry as to the documentdestruction and discarding permission is made by creating an inquirymessage for destruction and discarding permission with the document IDcontained in the QR code read by the bar code scanner 19 designated andtransmitting this inquiry message from the network interface 37 via thenetwork 4 to the document management apparatus 2. That is, the inquiryfor document destruction and discarding permission is the inquiry as towhether or not the document designated by the document ID contained inthis inquiry may be destroyed and discarded. In this connection, whenthe reading of the QR code is successful, the information contained inthe QR code may be simply displayed on the operation panel 31.

The document management apparatus 2 receiving the inquiry messageretrieves whether or not the document ID specified in the inquirymessage is registered in the document management table in the retrievalsection 13. If the applicable document ID exists, the document storageperiod registered associated with the document ID is confirmed. And whenthe date and time when the inquiry for document destruction anddiscarding permission is received from the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3 (inquiry date and time) passes the documentstorage period, an answer message indicating that the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given is returned to thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. Also, when the date andtime when the inquiry for document destruction and discarding permissionis received from the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3does not pass the document storage period, an answer message indicatingthat the document destruction and discarding permission is not given(the destruction and discarding of the document is inhibited) isreturned to the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

If the answer message is returned from the document management apparatus2 in this way, the document destruction and discarding control section36 receives the answer message through the network interface 37, andchecks whether or not the content of the answer message is to give thedocument destruction and discarding permission to the inquiry from theself apparatus (document destruction and discarding apparatus 3) (stepS314). And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding permission, a prepared destruction and discarding permissionguidance (guide message) is displayed on the operation panel 31, and thestopper drive section 33 is driven to open the stopper gate 20 (stepsS315 and S316). Also, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 makes an instruction of starting to rotate the feed rolls 21and 22 to the feeder drive section 34 at this time, and the feeder drivesection 34 starts to drive and rotate the feed rolls 21 and 22 inaccordance with this instruction. One example of the destruction anddiscarding permission guidance may be “The stopper gate 20 is opened todestroy and discard this document. Insert the document more deeply.”

Thereafter, if the user inserts the document deeply in accordance with aguidance displayed on the operation panel 31, the leading edge of thedocument is pushed against the nip part of the feed rolls 21, and thedocument is fed to the downstream side on the document conveying path,along with the rotation of the feed rolls 21 (step S317). In this way,the document fed by the feed rolls 21 is passed to the feed rolls 22 onthe more downstream side in the conveying direction, and conveyed to theshredder portion 24 along with the rotation of the feed rolls 22. Atthis time, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the insert sensor 18, so that the insert sensor 18 is switched fromthe on state to the off state, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 drives the stopper drive section 33 at apredetermined timing (e.g., the timing when the rear end of the documentgets rid of the feed rolls 21), returning the stopper gate 20 to theoriginal state (closed state).

Also, if the leading edge of the document passes by the sensing positionof the path sensor 23 during the conveyance with the feed rolls 22, sothat the path sensor 23 is switched from the off state to the on state,the document destruction and discarding control section 36 makes aninstruction of starting the driving to the shredder drive section 35,and the shredder drive section 35 receiving this instruction starts todrive the shredder portion 24. Accordingly, the document fed by the feedrolls 22 is directly taken in by the shredder portion 24, and shreddedthrough the shredding process (step S318).

Thereafter, if the rear end of the document passes by the sensingposition of the path sensor 23, so that the path sensor 23 is switchedfrom the on state to the off state, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 transmits, to the document managementapparatus 2, a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification indicating that the destruction and discarding of thedocument is completed by designating the document ID of the document,for which the document destruction and discarding permission is givenbefore, in a predetermined time (specifically the time taken since therear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 till theentire document is shredded) from the time when the path sensor 23 isturned off (step S319). The destruction and discarding completionnotification message is transmitted from the network interface 37 viathe network 4 to the document management apparatus 2. On the contrary,the document management apparatus 2 receiving the destruction anddiscarding completion notification message from the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3 registers the date and time when the messageis received as the destruction and discarding history informationcorresponding to the document ID designated in the message in a columnof document destruction and discarding date and time.

On the other hand, if the reading of the QR code is unsuccessful at stepS312, it is judged whether or not the cause of failure is no code (firstcase) (step S320). And if the cause of failure is no code, a preparedfirst reading impossible guidance is displayed on the operation panel 31(step S321). One example of the first reading impossible guidance may be“No code is found. Pull out the document and check the position of codeor the orientation of document.”Also, if the cause of failure is a codedefect (second case), a prepared second reading impossible guidance isdisplayed on the operation panel 31 (step S322). One example of thesecond reading impossible guidance may be “A code reading erroroccurred. Pull out the document and check the status of code.”

Also, if the document destruction and discarding permission is not givenfrom the document management apparatus 2 at step S314, a prepareddestruction and discarding impermissible guidance is displayed on theoperation panel 31 (step S323). One example of the destruction anddiscarding impermissible guidance may be “The destruction and discardingof this document is inhibited. Pull out the document.” Also, after thereading impossible guidance is displayed at step S321 or S322 or thedestruction and discarding impermissible guidance is displayed at stepS323, it is judged whether or not the insert sensor 18 is switched fromthe on state to the off state (the document is taken out of the documenttray portion 17) (step S324). If the insert sensor 18 is switched to theoff state, the procedure goes to the next step at that time.

In the document management system as described above, the document IDappended to the document is managed corresponding to the documentstorage period in the document management apparatus 2, in which when thedocument is destroyed and discarded employing the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3, the document ID contained in the QR code isacquired by reading the QR code printed on the document of destructionand discarding object with the bar code scanner 19, an inquiry as towhether or not the document specified by this document ID is permittedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2,and if an answer content to this inquiry is to give a destruction anddiscarding permission, the destruction and discarding process for thedocument is performed in the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3. Therefore, the person in charge does not need to confirmthe possibility of destroying and discarding the document every time asconventionally performed, and the document in which the storage periodhas expired can be securely destroyed and discarded. Also, it ispossible to avoid falsely destroying and discarding the document due toan artificial check error.

Also, since there are the first destruction and discarding mode in whichthe document is destroyed and discarded without reading the document IDand the second destruction and discarding mode in which the document isdestroyed and discarded by reading the document ID and receiving thedestruction and discarding permission from the document managementapparatus 2, the first destruction and discarding mode is selected whenthe document having no document ID appended is destroyed and discarded,and the second destruction and discarding mode is selected when thedocument with the document ID appended is destroyed and discarded. Thus,the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 can be employedproperly depending on the class of the document. Accordingly, theefficient document destruction and discarding operation can be performedin the office environment where the confidential document and othergeneral document are mixed.

Also, when the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 makes acommunication establishment request to the document management apparatus2, if the communication connection is not established between them (thecommunication establishment is unsuccessful) for some reason (accident),the second destruction and discarding mode is automatically selected bythe mode selection section 42 for selecting the destruction anddiscarding mode, whereby the ordinary document destruction anddiscarding operation can be performed without trouble.

Also, for the document generated employing the document generationapparatus 1, the document ID appended to the document is managedcorresponding to the document storage period in the document managementapparatus 2, whereby the document can be managed consistently from thegeneration to the destruction and discarding of the document.

Also, when the destruction and discarding process (shredding process)for the document is made in the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3, a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification with the document ID of the document designated istransmitted to the document management apparatus 2, and the documentmanagement apparatus 2 receiving its notification message registers thedocument destruction and discarding date and time as the destruction anddiscarding history information corresponding to the applicable documentID in the document management table, whereby the date and time when thedocument is actually destroyed and discarded can be left as the history,together with the fact that the document is destroyed and discarded.Moreover, the user ID of the person who disposes of document in chargeof destroying and discarding the document can be left as one destructionand discarding history information. As a result, it is possible toconfirm later when and by whom the document designated by the certaindocument ID is destroyed and discarded.

Also, when the document generation process (printing process) isperformed in the document generation apparatus 1, the date and time whenthe document is generated and the user ID of the document creator incharge of generating the document are registered along with the documentID of the document in the document management table of the documentmanagement apparatus 2, whereby it is possible to confirm later when andby whom the document designated by the certain document ID is destroyedand discarded.

While the QR code including the document ID is printed on the documentin the above embodiment, the invention is not limited to thisembodiment, but the numerals or symbols indicating the document ID maybe printed on the document. Also, the appendage of the document ID onthe document is not limited to printing, but the document ID may beappended by labeling on the document.

Also, while the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 makes acommunication establishment request in turning on the power, thecommunication establishment request may be repeatedly made to thedocument management apparatus 2 at a predetermined time period, till thecommunication connection with the document management apparatus 2 isestablished later, if the communication establishment at the time ofturning on the power is unsuccessful. In this case, at the stage wherethe trouble of the network 4 is resolved or the document managementapparatus 2 is recovered from the system down, the communicationconnection is automatically established, and the setting of thedestruction and discarding mode is switched to the second destructionand discarding mode.

Fourth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 25 is a schematic view showing a fourth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3. This documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructed employing ashredder device, for example, and comprises a document tray portion 17,an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19, a stopper gate 20, the feedrolls 21 and 22, a path sensor 23 and a shredder portion 24.

The document tray portion 17 has a guide plane on which the documents tobe destroyed and discarded are obliquely carried. The guide plane (upperface) of the document tray portion 17 has a horizontal guide plane 17Aformed in almost horizontal state and an inclined guide plane 17Binclined obliquely from the horizontal guide plane 17A. The inclinedguide plane 17B of the document tray portion 17 is inclined obliquelyfrom an end part of the horizontal guide plane 17A to be gradually lowertoward the feed rolls 21. Also, the inclined guide plane 17B of thedocument tray portion 17 extends beyond the stopper gate 20 to the frontpart of the feed rolls 21. Also, a document conveying path is separatelyformed on the downstream side of the feed rolls 21, employing a chuteguide (not shown).

The insert sensor 18 senses that the document is inserted into apredetermined position on the document tray portion 17. The“predetermined position” means the position where the Q code is arrangedin a code reading area E with the bar code scanner 19, namely, theposition where the QR code printed on the document can be read by thebar code scanner 19, when the document with the QR code printed isinserted in the normal orientation. The insert sensor 18 is composed ofan optical sensor of the reflection type having a light emitting elementand a light receiving element, for example, and turned on when thedocument exists at the sensing position of the insert sensor 18, orturned off when no document exists.

The bar code scanner 19 optically reads a bar code appended to thedocument of destruction and discarding object, and outputs the originalinformation (data) contained in the bar code within the document, basedon the read result. The bar code scanner 19 takes an image of the barcode into an area sensor 25 by applying the light of a light sourceinside the scanner to a bar code recorded part of the document ofdestruction and discarding object and receiving a reflected light fromthe bar code recorded part via a lens 26 inside the scanner with thearea sensor 25. The bar code recorded part refers to the part where thebar code including the document ID as one information is recorded withinthe plane of the document, in which its position is defined beforehanddimensionally at the corner part of the document.

The stopper gate 20 is provided to stop the document of destruction anddiscarding object at the predetermined position in an insertiondirection (thrusting direction) of the document on the document trayportion 17 and disposed between the insert sensor 18 and the feed rolls21. The stopper gate 20 opens or closes an entrance of the documentconveying path at the entrance part of the document conveying pathformed by the feed rolls 21 and 22. In a state where the stopper gate 20is closed, the stopper gate 20 is disposed to project downward to blockthe passage of the document leading from the document tray portion 17 tothe feed roll 21. Accordingly, when the document laid on the documenttray portion 17 is inserted deeply, the leading edge of the document ispushed against the stopper gate 20. On the contrary, in a state wherethe stopper gate 20 is opened, the stopper gate 20 is withdrawn upwardto retreat from the passage of document leading from the document tray17 to the feed roll 21. Accordingly, if the document laid on thedocument tray portion 17 is inserted more deeply, the leading edge ofthe document is pushed against the nip part of the feed roll 21.

The feed roll 21 conveys the document along the document conveyingpassage by rotating while nipping (pinching) the document inserted byopening the stopper gate 20. The document conveying passage is formedemploying a conveying guide member (chute), not shown. The feed roll 22conveys the document along the document conveying passage to theshredder portion 24 by rotating while nipping the document conveyed bythe feed roll 21.

The path sensor 23 senses the document passing midway (at almost middlepoint) on the document conveying passage leading from the feed roll 22to the shredder portion 24. The path sensor 23 is composed of an opticalsensor of the reflection type having a light emitting element and alight receiving element, for example. The path sensor 32 is placed inthe on state when the document exists at a sensing position of the pathsensor 32, or in the off state when no document exists. Accordingly,when the leading edge of the document passes by the sensing position ofthe path sensor 23, the path sensor 23 is switched from the off state tothe on state at the same time, and then, when the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the path sensor 23, the pathsensor 23 is switched from the on state to the off state at the sametime.

The shredder portion 24 cuts (shreds) the document while pulling thedocument fed by the feed roll 22 in one direction (arrow direction).This shredder portion 24 can perform the destruction and discardingprocess for a plurality of documents (e.g., a sheaf of about 20documents of A4 size) collectively. Also, the shredder portion 24 canperform the destruction and discarding process for the documentsubjected to the stapling process by staples in its as-is state (withoutremoving the staples).

FIG. 26 is a perspective view showing the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3, partly exploded. An apparatus main body 250 ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 has an upper cover260 integrally. The document tray portion 17 is integrally formed on theupper cover 260. Also, a scan unit 270 is removably attached (mounted)by screws on the upper cover 260 of the apparatus main body 250. Thescan unit 270 is largely composed of a unit main body 280 and a unitcover 290. The unit cover 290 is a resin cover over the unit main body280 when the scan unit 270 is attached on the apparatus main body 250.Actually, the scan unit 270 is attached on the upper cover 260 of theapparatus main body 250, as shown in FIG. 27.

FIG. 28 is a perspective view showing the unit main body 280, partlyexploded. The unit main body 280 comprises a side guide 300, a firstframe member 310 and a second frame member 320. The side guide 300 is aresin integral molding and attached by screws to one end part of thefirst frame member 310. The side guide 300 is disposed at one side endpart of the document tray portion 17, when the unit main body 280 isattached on the upper cover 260. The side guide 300 is formed with aguide plane 300A along the insertion direction (thrusting direction) ofdocument and a chute plane 300B making right angles (L-character shape)to the guide plane 300A.

The first frame member 310 forms a passage for document insertion guidewith the document tray portion 17, and is attached with a predefined gapfrom the document tray portion 17.

Also, a first weight member 330 and a second weight member 340 aremounted on the first frame member 310, as shown in FIG. 29. Each of theweight members 330 and 340 is supported swingably around a support shaftprovided in the first frame member 310. These weight members 330 and 340exert dead weights on the upper face (top face) of the document manuallyinserted into the predetermined position by the user to prevent the topend of the document from floating.

The second frame member 32 is attached on the first frame member 310 byscrews. The second frame member 320 has attached the stopper driveportion 33, besides the insert sensor 18, the bar code scanner 19 andthe stopper gate 20. The stopper drive portion 33 is a drive source foropening or closing the stopper gate 20.

FIG. 30 is a view showing a drive mechanism for the stopper gate 20employing the stopper drive portion 33. The stopper gate 20 is composedof a resin plate member, for example, and has one pair of left and rightstopper portions 360, a longitudinal guide hole 370 and a transverseguide hole 380 integrally. One pair of stopper portions 360 are formedat both the left and right ends of the stopper gate 20 and in downwardlyextending state. The guide hole 370 is formed centrally in a widthdirection of the stopper gate 20 (longitudinal direction in FIG. 30).The guide hole 380 is formed centrally in the width direction of thestopper gate 20 and almost directly above the guide hole 370.

The stopper drive portion 33 has integrally an output shaft 390. Thisoutput shaft 390 is connected via an actuation arm 400 to the stoppergate 20. That is, the actuation arm 400 is connected to the stopper gate20 employing a first engagement pin 410 and connected to the outputshaft 390 employing a second engagement pin 420. Also, the firstengagement pin 410 is engaged in the guide hole 380 of the stopper gate20.

The actuation arm 400 is supported rotatably around a support shaft 430provided in the second frame member 320. Also, one end of an extensioncoil spring 440 is engaged to the actuation arm 400. The other end ofthe extension coil spring 440 is engaged in a spring latch 450 formedintegrally with the second frame 320. The extension coil spring 440 is amember for urging the actuation arm 400 in one direction (clockwisedirection in FIG. 30) around the support shaft 430.

The stopper gate 20 is supported vertically movably by one pair of upperand lower guide pins 460 provided in the second frame member 320. Theguide pins 460 engage the guide hole 370 formed in the stopper gate 20,and are disposed vertically with a certain distance away. Also, each ofthe guide pins 460 has an anti-slip ring (e.g., C ring) to prevent thestopper gate 20 from falling off the second frame member 320.

Also, the first frame member 310 is formed with a gate hole 470 forpulling or inserting the stopper portion 360 of the stopper gate 20, anescape hole 480 for avoiding contact with the stopper gate 20, a sensingwindow 490 for the insert sensor 18, an opening portion 500 for makingthe bottom part of the first weight member 330 contact with the documenttray portion 17, and an opening portion 510 for making the bottom partof the second weight member 340 contact with the document tray portion17.

In a drive mechanism for the stopper gate 20 with the aboveconstitution, the stopper drive portion 33 is turned from thenon-energized state to the energized state, so that the output shaft 390is drawn into a solenoid main body against a biasing force of theextension coil spring 440. Thereby, the actuation arm 400 is rotated inthe counterclockwise direction around the support shaft 30. Also, thestopper gate 20 is lifted by the actuation arm 400. Therefore, thestopper portion 360 of the stopper gate 20 is placed in a stateretreated from the gate hole 470 of the first frame member 310. Also,the stopper portion 360 of the stopper gate 20 is spaced from aninclined guide plane 17B of the document tray portion 17 (the stoppergate 20 is opened) in a state where the scan unit 270 is mounted on theupper cover 260 of the apparatus main body 250.

On the contrary, if the stopper drive section 33 is turned from theenergized state to the non-energized state, the actuation arm 400 isrotated in clockwise direction around the support shaft 430 owing to abiasing force of the extension coil spring 440. Thereby, the outputshaft 390 of the stopper drive portion 33 is pulled out of the main bodyof the stopper drive portion 33. Also, the stopper gate 20 is presseddown by the actuation arm 400. Therefore, the stopper portion 360 of thestopper gate 20 is disposed in a state projecting downward from the gatehole 470 of the first frame member 310. Also, the stopper portion 360 ofthe stopper gate 20 is pushed against the inclined guide plane 17B ofthe document tray portion 17 (the stopper gate 20 is closed) in a statewhere the scan unit 270 is mounted on the upper cover 260 of theapparatus main body 250.

FIG. 31 is a view of the scan unit 270, as seen from the above. A guideplane 300A of the side guide 300 is disposed in parallel to a thrustingdirection (arrow direction) when manually inserting the document 27. Thedocument 27 of destruction and discarding object is inserted in anorientation where a recorded part (printed part) of the QR code 39 isplaced at the corner part on the top side. At this time, one side end ofthe document 27 is contacted with and moved along the guide plane 300Aof the side guide 300 to position the document 27 in the directionorthogonal to the thrusting direction. Also, one side end neighborhoodof the document 27 is laid on a chute face 300B of the side guide 300.

Thereby, the recorded part of the QR code 39 is positioned within thecode reading area E with the bar code scanner 19 in a state where theleading edge of the document 52 is pushed against the stopper gate 20 bymanual insertion of the user. Also, the insert sensor 18 is disposed infront of (directly close to) the stopper gate 20 in the insertiondirection of the document. Therefore, when the leading edge of thedocument 52 manually inserted by the user is pushed against the stoppergate 20, the insert sensor 18 is switched from the off state to the onstate immediately before it. Thereby, the timing when the insert sensor18 is turned on indicates the timing when the QR code 39 printed on thedocument 52 is disposed within the code reading area E.

FIG. 32 is a block diagram showing the fourth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3. This documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises an operation panel 31,a feeder drive section 34, a shredder drive section 35, a documentdestruction and discarding control section 36 and a network interface37, in addition to the components as described above.

The operation panel 31 is operated by the user who uses the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 and mounted on the upper cover260 of the apparatus main body 250. The operation panel 31 is composedof the operation buttons (e.g., a start button, a stop button) and adisplay panel for displaying various operation screens including anoperation state of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3and an operation guidance (guide message).

The feeder drive section 34 rotates the feed rolls 21 and 22. The feederdrive section 34 may have a motor as the drive source. The shredderdrive section 35 drives and rotates the shredder portion 24. Theshredder drive section 35 may have a motor as the drive source.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 controlsvarious processing operations involving the destruction and discardingof document in accordance with a given control program. This documentdestruction and discarding control section 36 controls the operation ofthe bar code scanner 19, the operation panel 31, the stopper drivesection 33, the feeder drive section 34 and the shredder drive section35 which are electrically connected. Also, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 has the insert sensor 18 and the pathsensor 23 which are electrically connected.

The network interface 37 is a communication interface for enabling thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 to make the datatransmission and reception with other apparatuses (including thedocument generation apparatus 1 and the document management apparatus 2)on the network 4. The data transmission and reception through thenetwork interface 37 is controlled by the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36.

Next, a document management method employing the document managementsystem with the above configuration will be described below. First ofall, the document treated in the invention is assigned an intrinsicdocument ID and generated by the document generation apparatus 1. Thedocument ID may be composed of numerals alone, or an appropriatecombination of numerals and alphabets or symbols. In the following, aspecific management method in treating the document that is a voucherfor auditing or tax inspection will be described.

First of all, the document data (electronic data) with bar code that isa pattern of the document is inputted into the document generationapparatus 1, and the document data is printed on the paper by the imageoutput section 8, whereby the grounded paper for the payment applicationas shown in FIG. 33A is created. The document data may be created on thedocument management apparatus 2, and inputted from this documentmanagement apparatus 2 via the network 4 into the document generationapparatus 1, or separately the document data may be created on a serverapparatus for creating the document data, and inputted from this serverapparatus via the network 4 into the document generation apparatus 1.

Thus, the QR code 39 including the document ID assigned to the paymentapplication 38 as one information is additionally printed at the cornerpart of the payment application 38 that is generated by the documentgeneration apparatus 1. That is, the payment application 38 that isgenerated by the document generation apparatus 1 corresponds to the“document with the document ID appended”. Also, the ground paper of thepayment application 38 is provided with an area 40 to attach thereceipt. Therefore, the applicant creates the script of the paymentapplication 38 by attaching the receipt 41 on the ground paper of thepayment application 38, as shown in FIG. 33B, and making additionalwriting and stamp (seal), as needed.

If the payment application 38 is created in this way, this paymentapplication 38 is set on a manuscript stand of the document generationapparatus 1, and an image of the payment application 38 is read by theimage reading section 6. Then, the image data of the payment application38 read by the image reading section 6 is transmitted to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 via the network 4. Also, the original of thepayment application 38 that has been read is bound and stored in a file.

On the other hand, the document management apparatus 2 receiving theimage data (scan data) of the payment application 38 from the documentgeneration apparatus 1 accumulates its image data in the databasesection 14, and the image of the QR code 39 included in the image datais analyzed by the bar code analysis section 12, whereby the decodeinformation for the document ID assigned to the payment application 38is extracted. The document ID acquired in this way is registered in thedocument management table by the document management control section 15.The document management table is created within the database section 14.

FIG. 34 is a view showing one example of the document management table.The document management table has the document ID, the documentgeneration date and time, the document storage period and the documentdestruction and discarding date and time, which are registeredassociated with each other, as shown in FIG. 34. When the documentgeneration date and time and the document destruction and discardingdate and time are registered, it is desirable that the time is thestandard time acquired from a time distribution server or a timeauthentication server on the Internet via the network 4. The document IDmay be registered by decoding the QR code in the bar code analysissection 12, or when the document data with bar code is created on thedocument management apparatus 2 or another server apparatus, thedocument ID assigned to the document by the document managementapparatus 2 itself, or another server apparatus may be registered. Thedocument generation date and time indicates the date and time when thedocument is generated. In this embodiment, the date and time when thedocument generation apparatus 1 transmits the image data read from thedocument such as the payment application 38 to the document managementapparatus 2, or the document management apparatus 2 receives the imagedata of the document transmitted from the document generation apparatus1 is registered as the “document generation date and time”.

The document storage period indicates the storage period of the documentin date and time. It is required that the document with the document IDregistered in the document management table is stored till the documentstorage period expires. However, if the document storage period isregistered as “no designation”, the document is treated to be destroyedand discarded at any time, or if the document storage period isregistered as “permanent”, the document is treated not to be destroyedand discarded at any time.

Generally, for the receipt, the storage period is decided by itsreceived amount of money. Therefore, if the information for setting thedocument storage period, in addition to the information of the documentID, is contained in the QR code printed on the payment application, forexample, the document storage period can be automatically set from thedecode information of the bar code analysis section 12. Specifically, ifthe information specifying the storage period of the payment application38 as six years is contained in the QR code 39, the document storageperiod can be set to the date and time after six years from thegeneration date and time of the payment application 38. Besides, if theinformation indicating the received amount of money in the receiptattached on the payment application 38 is contained in the QR code 39,the storage period of the receipt can be automatically deduced from thatinformation, and set in the document storage period of the documentmanagement table. Further, the document storage period of the documentmanagement table can be set or changed by manual input (manualoperation) of the user, employing the user interface 16 provided for thedocument management apparatus 2.

The document destruction and discarding date and time indicates the dateand time when the document is destroyed and discarded. The destructionand discarding of the document is performed by the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3. Therefore, the document destruction anddiscarding date and time of the document management table is registeredin the date and time when a notification of completing the destructionand discarding of the document (hereinafter referred to a “destructionand discarding completion notification”) is issued from the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 to the document managementapparatus 2 by specifying the document ID of the document that isdestroyed and discarded.

As for the document management table, the user ID of the user whocreates the document on the document generation apparatus 1 may beregistered as a document creator in the document management table, orthe user ID of the user who destroys and discards the document on thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 may be registered as theperson who destroys and discards the document in the document managementtable. In this case, the ID information of the user who creates ordestroys and discards the document can be acquired employing theexistent user authentication technique (e.g., user authenticationtechnique employing the IC card).

FIG. 35 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document according to the mechanical embodiment 4 of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. This documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 has a normal destruction anddiscarding mode in which the document destruction and discarding processis performed without reading the document ID (QR code in thisembodiment) of the document of destruction and discarding object and ascan destruction and discarding mode in which the document destructionand discarding process is performed by reading the document ID of thedocument of destruction and discarding object and making an inquiry fordocument destruction and discarding permission to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 with the read document ID designated, if thedestruction and discarding permission is given from the documentmanagement apparatus 2. And the flowchart of FIG. 35 represents theprocessing procedure in the scan destruction and discarding mode.

In the normal destruction and discarding mode, when the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby, and the startbutton provided on the operation panel 31 is pressed by the user, thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36 instructs thestopper drive section 33, the feeder driver section 34 and the shredderdrive section 35 to start the driving to open the stopper gate 20, andstart the driving of the feed rolls 21 and 22 and the shredder portion24. Thereby, if the user who uses the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3 lays the document of destruction and discardingobject on the document tray portion 17 and inserts it deeply, theleading edge of the document is nipped by the feed rolls 21, pulled intothe inside of the apparatus, directly conveyed by the feed rolls 21 and22, and shredded by the shredder portion 24.

Also, if the stop button of the operation panel 31 is depressed by theuser after the start button of the operation panel 31 is depressed, or apredetermined time passes since the start button is depressed, thedocument destruction and discarding control section 36 instructs thestopper drive section 33, the feeder drive section 34 and the shredderdrive section 35 to stop the driving to restore the stopper gate 20 tothe closed state, and stop the driving of the feed rolls 21 and 22 andthe shredder portion 24. Thereby, the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3 returns to a standby state again.

On the contrary, in the scan destruction and discarding mode, the userwho uses the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 lays thedocument of destruction and discarding object on the document trayportion 17 and inserts it deeply. At this time, if the QR code 39 isprinted on the document of destruction and discarding object, thedocument 27 is inserted in an orientation where the print face of the QRcode 39 is on the top face (face upward) and the printed part of the QRcode 39 is on the downstream side (deep side) in the thrustingdirection, as shown in FIG. 31.

Herein, if the document 27 laid on the document tray portion 17 is anold document repeatedly perused, or the document circulated around manydepartments, the corner part of the document 27 often turns up, as shownin FIG. 36A. If the turn-up of the document occurs at the corner partnear the printed part of the QR code 30 as shown in FIG. 36B, a turnedup part 27A of the document 27 is pushed against a document insertionopening (document uptake opening) 64 into which the document 52 isinserted by manual insertion of the user, and the turned up part 27A isdirectly folded out and inserted into the deeper side of the documentinsertion opening. Then, a part of the QR code 27 is hidden because theturned up part 27A of the document 27 is folded out, as shown in FIG.36C. As a result, the QR code 30 of the document 27 can not normallyread by the bar code scanner 19.

Thus, in the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 accordingto this embodiment, a document uptake chute 650 is provided near thedocument insertion opening, integrally with or separately from the unitcover 290 of the scan unit 270, as shown in FIG. 37. The document uptakechute 650 is a member for correcting the turn-up of the document, whenthe turned up part 27A occurs at the leading edge of the document 27laid on the document tray portion 17.

The document uptake chute 650 is provided to project from the front endpart of the unit cover 290 to the horizontal guide plane 17A of thedocument tray portion 17. Also, the document uptake chute 650 hasintegrally a guide plane 650A disposed in parallel to the inclined guideplane 17B of the document tray portion 17. The guide plane 650A isdisposed like a pent-roof above the document insertion opening, andformed to make a predetermined angle θ with the horizontal guide plane17A of the document tray portion 17. The predetermined angle θ is setappropriately within a range from 15° to 30°, for example. The verticalgap between the horizontal guide plane 17A of the document tray portion17 and the guide plane 650A of the document uptake chute 650 isgradually smaller toward the deep side of the document insertion openingin accordance with this angle θ.

By providing this document uptake chute 650 in the document insertionopening, even if the turned up part 27A occurs at the top end part ofthe document 27 laid on the document tray portion 17, the turned up part27A of the document 27 is gradually pressed down while making contactwith the guide plane 650A of the document uptake chute 650, when thisdocument 27 is thrust into the document insertion opening by manualinsertion of the user. Therefore, the turned up part 27A of the document27 is not folded out, and is corrected by the document uptake chute 650.Accordingly, the QR code 39 of the document 27 can be normally read bythe bar code scanner 19.

If the document is thrust in the above way, a signal of the insertsensor 18 is switched from the off state to the on state immediatelybefore the leading edge of the document is pushed against the stoppergate 20. At this time, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 continually monitors the signal (on/off state) of the insertsensor 18 while the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 ison standby (step S401). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when theuser inserts (thrusts) the document, an instruction of reading the barcode is issued to the bar code scanner 19. And the bar code scanner 19reads the QR code printed on the document in accordance with thisreading instruction (step S402). Then, the QR code printed on thedocument can be confronted with the bar code scanner 19 by suppressingthe floating of the document with a first weight member 330 and a secondweight member 340 at the top end side of the document, especially at thereading position (code reading area E) of the QR code with the bar codescanner 19. Accordingly, the bar code scanner 19 can securely read theQR code.

Next, the document destruction and discarding control section 57 judgeswhether or not the reading of the QR code is successful (step S403).Whether or not the reading of the QR code is successful is judged basedon whether or not the document ID is normally decoded by the bar codescanner 19 from the QR code printed on the document. There are mainlytwo cases where the bar code scanner 19 fails in reading the QR code.The first case occurs when the QR code is not originally printed on thedocument, or when the QR code does not exist in the code reading area E(see FIG. 31) (case of no code) because the orientation of inserting thedocument (face up or down, or from the top end or rear end of thedocument) is unsuitable. The second case occurs when the QR code existsin the code reading area E but the QR code is remarkably contaminated orbroken, or when the decode information of the QR code does not containthe document ID (case of code defect).

If the reading of the QR code is successful (Yes at step S403), aninquiry as to whether or not the document specified by the document IDcontained in this QR code is permitted to destroy and discard is made tothe document management apparatus 2 (step S404). The inquiry for thedocument destruction and discarding permission is made by creating aninquiry message for destruction and discarding permission with thedocument ID contained in the QR code read by the bar code scanner 19designated, and transmitting this inquiry message from the networkinterface 37 via the network 4 to the document management apparatus 2.That is, the inquiry for the document destruction and discardingpermission means the inquiry as to whether or not the document specifiedby the document ID designated in this inquiry may be destroyed anddiscarded. In this connection, if the reading of the QR code issuccessful, the information contained in this QR code may be simplydisplayed on the operation panel 31.

In the document management apparatus 2 receiving the inquiry message,the retrieval section 13 retrieves whether or not the document IDdesignated in the inquiry message is registered in the documentmanagement table. If the applicable document ID exists, the documentstorage period registered associated with the document ID is checked.And if the date and time (inquiry date and time) when the inquiry fordocument destruction and discarding permission is received from thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 passes the documentstorage period, an answer message indicating that the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given to the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 is returned. Also, if the dataand time when the inquiry for document destruction and discardingpermission is received from the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 does not pass the document storage period, an answer messageindicating that the document destruction and discarding permission isnot given to the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 (thedestruction and discarding of the document is inhibited) is returned.

Thus, if the answer message is returned from the document managementapparatus 2, the document destruction and discarding control section 36receives that answer message via the network interface 37, and checkswhether or not the content of the answer message gives the destructionand discarding permission for the document upon the inquiry from theself-apparatus (document destruction and discarding apparatus 3) (stepS405). And if the answer message gives the destruction and discardingpermission for the document, a prepared guidance for document permission(guide message) is displayed on the operation panel 31, and then aninstruction of opening the stopper gate 20 is issued to the stopperdrive section 33 to open the stopper gate 20 (steps S406 and S407). Atthis time, the document destruction and discarding control section 36instructs the feeder drive section 34 to start rotating the feed rolls21 and 22, and the feeder drive section 34 starts driving the rotationof the feed rolls 21 and 22 in accordance with this instruction. Oneexample of the destruction and discarding permission guidance may be“This document is destroyed and discarded. Insert the document moredeeply.”

Thereafter, if the user thrusts in the document in accordance with theguidance displayed on the operation panel 31, the leading edge of thedocument is pushed against the nip part of the feed rolls 21, and thedocument is fed into the downstream side on the document conveying path,along with the rotation of the feed rolls 21 (step S408). Thus, thedocument fed by the feed rolls 21 is passed to the feed rolls 22 on thedownstream side in the conveying direction, and conveyed to the shredderportion 24, along with the rotation of the feed rolls 22. At this time,the rear end of the document passes by the sensing position of theinsert sensor 18, so that the signal of the insert sensor 18 is switchedfrom the on state to the off state. Then, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 instructs the stopper drive section 33 toreturn the stopper gate 20 at a preset timing (e.g., timing when therear end of the document gets rid of the feed roll 21), and therebyrestore the stopper gate 20 to its original state (closed state).

Also, the leading edge of the document passes by the sensing position ofthe path sensor 23 during the conveyance of the document by the feedrolls 22, so that the path sensor 23 is switched from the off state tothe on state. Then, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 makes an instruction of starting the driving to the shredderdrive section 35, and the shredder drive section 35 starts the drivingof the shredder portion 24 upon receiving the instruction. Accordingly,the document fed by the feed rolls 22 is directly taken by the shredderportion 24, and shredded through the shred process (destruction anddiscarding process) (step S409).

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the path sensor 23, so that the path sensor 23 is switched from theon state to the off state. Then, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 transmits a message of destruction and discardingcompletion notification that the destruction and discarding of thedocument is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the path sensor 23 is turned off (specifically the time takensince the rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24till the entire document is shredded) (step S410). The destruction anddiscarding completion notification message is transmitted via thenetwork interface 37 across the network 4 to the document managementapparatus 2. On the contrary, the document management apparatus 2receiving the destruction and discarding completion notification messagefrom the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 registers thedate and time when the message is received in the column of documentdestruction and discarding date and time as the destruction anddiscarding history information corresponding to the document IDdesignated in the message.

On the other hand, if the reading of the QR code is unsuccessful at stepS403, a prepared reading impossible guidance is displayed on theoperation panel 31 (step S411). One example of the reading impossibleguidance may be “A code reading error occurred. Pull out the document.”Also, if the document destruction and discarding permission is not givenfrom the document management apparatus 2 at step S405, a prepareddestruction and discarding impermissible guidance is displayed on theoperation panel 31 (step S412). One example of the destruction anddiscarding impermissible guidance may be “This document can not bedestroyed and discarded, because the document storage period does notexpire. Pull out the document.” Also, after the destruction anddiscarding completion notification is transmitted, the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 directly returns to the standbystate. However, after the reading impossible guidance is displayed atstep S411, or the destruction and discarding impermissible guidance isdisplayed at step S412, the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 returns to the standby state if the insert sensor 18 isswitched form the on state to the off state (the user takes the documentout of the document tray portion 17).

In the document management system as described above, the document IDappended to the document is managed corresponding to the documentstorage period in the document management apparatus 2, in which when thedocument is destroyed and discarded employing the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3, the document ID contained in the QR code isacquired by reading the QR code printed on the document of destructionand discarding object with the bar code scanner 19, an inquiry as towhether or not the document specified by this document ID is permittedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2,and if an answer content to this inquiry is to give a destruction anddiscarding permission, the destruction and discarding process for thedocument is performed in the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3. Therefore, the person in charge does not need to confirmthe possibility of destroying and discarding the document every time asconventionally performed, and the document in which the storage periodhas expired can be securely destroyed and discarded. Also, it ispossible to avoid falsely destroying and discarding the document due toan artificial check error.

Also, for the document generated employing the document generationapparatus 1, the document ID appended to the document is managedcorresponding to the document storage period in the document managementapparatus 2, whereby the document can be managed consistently from thegeneration to the destruction and discarding of the document.

Also, when the destruction and discarding process (shredding process)for the document is made in the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3, a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification with the document ID of the document designated istransmitted to the document management apparatus 2, and the documentmanagement apparatus 2 receiving its notification message registers thedocument destruction and discarding date and time as the destruction anddiscarding history information corresponding to the applicable documentID in the document management table, whereby the date and time when thedocument is actually destroyed and discarded can be left as the history,together with the fact that the document is destroyed and discarded.Moreover, the user ID information of the person who disposes of documentin charge of destroying and discarding the document can be acquired bythe user authentication technique and left as one destruction anddiscarding history information. As a result, it is possible to confirmlater when and by whom the document designated by the certain documentID is destroyed and discarded.

Also, when the document generation process (printing process) isperformed in the document generation apparatus 1, the date and time whenthe document is generated and the user ID information of the documentcreator in charge of generating the document are registered along withthe document ID of the document in the document management table of thedocument management apparatus 2, whereby it is possible to confirm laterwhen and by whom the document designated by the certain document ID isdestroyed and discarded.

Since the scan unit 270 comprising the insert sensor 18, the bar codescanner 19 and the stopper gate 20 is removably mounted on the apparatusmain body 250 (upper cover 260) of the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3, the apparatus main body 250 from which the scanunit 270 is removed is treated as standard equipment and the scan unit270 may be optionally retrofitted to the apparatus main body 250 on theconfiguration for the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

While the QR code including the document ID is printed on the documentin the above embodiment, the invention is not limited thereto, but thenumber or symbol indicating the document ID may be printed on thedocument. Also, the appendage of the document ID on the document is notlimited to printing, but the document ID may be appended by labeling onthe document.

While the document is fed via the feed rolls 21 and 22 to the shredderportion 24 in the first to fourth mechanical embodiments of the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 as described above, the documentis fed to the shredder portion 24 without intervention of the feed rolls21 and 22 in the fifth to fourteenth embodiments as described below. Theexplanation of the same components as in the first to fourth embodimentsis omitted.

To begin with, the following five mechanical embodiments in which thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is configured to destroyand discard only the document permitted for destruction and discarding,and the careless destruction and discarding of the documentimpermissible for destruction and discarding is prevented will bedescribed below.

Fifth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 38 is a schematic view showing a fifth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19 and a shredderportion 24, in which the document is manually inserted and directlypassed to the shredder portion 24. They have the same constitution as inthe above mechanical embodiments, and the explanation of them isomitted.

FIG. 39 is a block diagram showing the fifth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, and a network interface 37, inaddition to the components as described above.

They have the same constitution as in the above mechanical embodiments,and the explanation of them is omitted.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the fifth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus 2 is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS501). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user manuallyinserts the document, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar codescanner 19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S502).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the destruction anddiscarding of the document is permitted is made to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 (step S503). The inquiry for document destructionand discarding permission is made by creating an inquiry message fordestruction and discarding permission with the document ID contained inthe QR code read by the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmittingthis inquiry message from the network interface 37 via the network 4 tothe document management apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding permission, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 makes an instruction of starting the driving to the shredderdrive section 35, and the shredder drive section 35 starts to drive theshredder portion 24 upon receiving this instruction. Accordingly, thedocument fed by manual insertion is directly taken into the shredderportion 24, and shredded through the shred process (destruction anddiscarding process) (step S504). Before making an instruction ofstarting the driving to the shredder drive section 35, as in the abovemechanical embodiment, it may be also possible to confirm whether or notthe content of the answer message is to give the destruction anddiscarding permission for the document to the inquiry from theself-apparatus (document destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the insert sensor 18, so that the insert sensor 18 is switched fromthe on state to the off state. Then, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 transmits a message of destruction anddiscarding completion notification that the destruction and discardingof the document is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the insert sensor 18 is turned off (specifically the time takensince the rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24till the entire document is shredded) (step S505).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding permission for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding inhibition) at step S503, a prepareddestruction and discarding impermissible guidance to report that thedestruction and discarding of the document is not permitted is displayedon the operation panel 31 (step S506). One example of the destructionand discarding impermissible guidance may be “Destruction and discardingof this document is inhibited for some reason. Pull out the document.”It is desirable that the report includes the reason. Also, after thedestruction and discarding completion notification is transmitted, thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 directly returns to thestandby state. However, after the destruction and discardingimpermissible guidance is displayed at step S506, the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns to the standby state ifthe insert sensor 18 is switched form the on state to the off state (theuser takes the document out of the document tray portion 17).

In this mechanical embodiment, if the answer (message) is to give thedestruction and discarding permission for the document, the driving ofthe shredder portion 24 is immediately started. However, in the casewhere the driving of the shredder portion 24 is made by another means(start button), the driving of the shredder portion 24 may be releasedfrom the regulated state, if the answer (message) is to give thedestruction and discarding permission for the document.

Sixth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 41 is a schematic view showing a sixth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, a bar code scanner 19, a shredder portion 24, a set sensor32, and the conveying rolls 60, in which the document is fed to theshredder portion 24 by the conveying rolls 60.

The bar code scanner 19 is provided on the document tray and reads theQR code from below. In this type, it is required that the document islaid on the document tray 17 so that the QR code of the document may beon the lower side. The bar code scanner 19 may read the QR code fromabove as in the above embodiments.

The conveying rolls 60 convey the document along the conveying path tothe shredder portion 24 by rotating in contact with the lower side ofthe document. The other constitution is the same as in the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram showing the sixth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and aconveying roll drive section 61, in addition to the components asdescribed above. The conveying roll drive section 61 drives theconveying rolls 60.

The other constitution is the same as in the above mechanicalembodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

Instead of the conveying roll drive section 61 and the conveying rolls60, the pull-in roll 43 and the pull-in drive section 48 may be applied.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the sixth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus 2 is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the set sensor 32 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS601). If the set sensor 32 is turned on when the user lays the documenton the document tray portion 17, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 issues an instruction of reading the bar code to thebar code scanner 19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR codeprinted on the document in accordance with this reading instruction(step S602).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the destruction anddiscarding of the document is permitted is made to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 (step S603). The inquiry for document destructionand discarding permission is made by creating an inquiry message fordestruction and discarding permission with the document ID contained inthe QR code read by the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmittingthis inquiry message from the network interface 37 via the network 4 tothe document management apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding permission, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 instructs the conveying roll drive section 61 to start thedriving, and the conveying roll drive section 61 starts to drive theconveying rolls 60 to convey the document to the shredder portion 24(step S604). Concurrently, the shredder drive section 36 also starts todrive the shredder portion 24 (step S605). Accordingly, the document isdirectly conveyed to the shredder portion 24, taken in, and shreddedthere. It may be also possible to confirm whether or not the content ofthe answer message is to give a destruction and discarding permissionfor the document to the inquiry from the self-apparatus (documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3) before making an instruction ofstarting the driving to the conveying roll drive section 61, as in theabove mechanical embodiments.

While the shredder portion 24 starts to be driven at the same time theconveying roll drive section starts to drive in this mechanicalembodiment, the shredder portion 24 needs to be driven when the documentis conveyed, and may be driven at the preceding or succeeding timing.

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the set sensor 32, so that the set sensor 32 is switched from the onstate to the off state. Then, the document destruction and discardingcontrol section 36 transmits a message of destruction and discardingcompletion notification that the destruction and discarding of thedocument is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the set sensor is turned off (specifically the time taken sincethe rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 tillthe entire document is shredded) (step S606).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding permission for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding inhibition) at step S603, a prepareddestruction and discarding impermissible guidance to report that thedestruction and discarding of the document is not permitted is displayedon the operation panel 31 (step S607). One example of the destructionand discarding impermissible guidance may be “Destruction and discardingof this document is inhibited for some reason. Pull out the document.”It is desirable that the report includes the reason. Also, after thedestruction and discarding completion notification is transmitted, thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 immediately returns tothe standby state. However, after the destruction and discardingimpermissible guidance is displayed at step S607, the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns to the standby state ifthe set sensor 32 is switched form the on state to the off state (theuser takes the document out of the document tray portion 17).

In this mechanical embodiment, if the answer (message) is to give thedestruction and discarding permission for the document, the driving ofthe conveying roll drive section 61 is immediately started in thismechanical embodiment. However, in the case where the driving of theconveying roll drive section 61 is made by another means (start button),the driving of the conveying roll drive section 61 may be released fromthe regulated state, if the answer (message) is to give the destructionand discarding permission for the document.

Seventh Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 44 is a schematic view showing a seventh mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19, a shredderportion 24, and a report portion 70, in which the document is directlyfed to the shredder portion 24 by manual insertion.

The report portion 70 has a display portion 71 for displaying andreporting whether or not the document may be destroyed and discarded,and a sound source portion 72 for reporting whether or not the documentmay be destroyed and discarded in sound (voice).

The report portion 70 may be any one of the display portion 71 and thesound source portion 72.

The other constitution is the same as in the above mechanicalembodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 45 is a block diagram showing the seventh mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and a reportcontrol section 73, in addition to the components as described above.The report control section 73 controls the display portion 71 in thereport portion 70 to display, and controls the sound source 72. Theother constitution is the same as in the above mechanical embodiments,and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 46 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the seventh mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS701). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user inserts thedocument, the document destruction and discarding control section 36issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code scanner19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S702).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the destruction anddiscarding of the document is permitted is made to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 (step S703). The inquiry for document destructionand discarding permission is made by creating an inquiry message fordestruction and discarding permission with the document ID contained inthe QR code read by the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmittingthis inquiry message from the network interface 37 via the network 4 tothe document management apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding permission, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 instructs the report control section 73 to start thereporting, and the report control section 73 starts to make a reportwith the report portion 70 (display portion 71, sound source 72) uponreceiving this instruction. And a message “Insert the document deeply.”is displayed on the display portion 71, and a sound (voice, permissionsound) informing that the document may be destroyed and discarded ismade by the sound source 72 (step S704). Concurrently, the driving ofthe shredder portion 24 is started (step S705). Accordingly, thedocument is directly conveyed to the shredder portion 24 by the user,taken in, and shredded there. It may be also possible to confirm whetheror not the content of the answer message is to give a destruction anddiscarding permission for the document to the inquiry from theself-apparatus (document destruction and discarding apparatus 3) beforemaking an instruction of starting the report to the report controlsection 73, as in the above mechanical embodiments.

While the shredder drive section 35 starts the driving at the same timewhen the report portion 70 (display portion 71, sound source 72) startsthe report in this mechanical embodiment, the shredder drive section 35needs to be driven when the document is conveyed to the shredder portion24, and may be driven at the preceding or succeeding timing when thereport portion 70 (display portion 71, sound source 72) starts thereport.

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the insert sensor 18, so that the insert sensor 18 is switched fromthe on state to the off state. Then, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 transmits a message of destruction anddiscarding completion notification that the destruction and discardingof the document is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the insert sensor is turned off (specifically the time taken sincethe rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 tillthe entire document is shredded) (step S706).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding permission for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding inhibition) at step S703, a prepareddestruction and discarding impermissible guidance to report that thedestruction and discarding of the document is not permitted is displayedon the operation panel 31 (step S707). One example of the destructionand discarding impermissible guidance may be “Destruction and discardingof this document is inhibited for some reason. Pull out the document.”It is desirable that the report includes the reason.

Also, after the destruction and discarding completion notification istransmitted, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3immediately returns to the standby state. However, after the destructionand discarding impermissible guidance is displayed at step S707, thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns to the standbystate if the insert sensor 18 is switched form the on state to the offstate (the user takes the document out of the document tray portion 17).

In this mechanical embodiment, if the answer (message) is to give thedestruction and discarding permission for the document, the reportportion 70 (display portion 71, sound source 72) immediately starts thereport in this mechanical embodiment. However, in the case where thereporting of the report portion 70 (display portion 71, sound source 72)is made by another means (start button), the reporting of the reportportion 70 (display portion 71, sound source 72) may be released fromthe regulated state, if the answer (message) is to give the destructionand discarding permission for the document.

Eighth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 47 is a schematic view showing an eighth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19, a shredderportion 24, and a branch gate 45, in which the document is directly fedto the shredder portion 24 by manual insertion.

The branch gate 45 switches the path on which the document is conveyedinto a shredder conveying path 80 on which the document is conveyed tothe shredder portion 24 and an upper conveying path 81 on which thedocument is conveyed upward from the shredder portion 24, as shown inFIG. 48. While the branch gate 45 is switched into the upper conveyingpath 81 extending upward from the shredder portion 24 in this mechanicalembodiment, the branch gate 45 may be switched into any other path(e.g., path under the shredder portion 24) as long as the path does notlead to the shredder portion 24. Also, in a state where the branch gate45 is positioned downward, the top end part enters into a groove portion82. In this case, the document is prevented from entering under thebranch gate 45. The other constitution is the same as in the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 49 is a block diagram showing the eighth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and a branchgate drive section 49, in addition to the components as described above.They are the same as in the above embodiments, and its explanation isomitted.

FIG. 50 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the eighth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus 2 is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS801). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user inserts thedocument, the document destruction and discarding control section 36issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code scanner19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S802).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the destruction anddiscarding of the document is permitted is made to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 (step S803). The inquiry for document destructionand discarding permission is made by creating an inquiry message fordestruction and discarding permission with the document ID contained inthe QR code read by the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmittingthis inquiry message from the network interface 37 via the network 4 tothe document management apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding permission, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 instructs the branch gate drive section 49 to change thepath, and the branch gate drive section 49 starts to change the pathwith the branch gate 45 upon receiving this instruction. That is, thepath on which the document is conveyed is switched from the upperconveying path 81 extending upward from the shredder portion 24 into theshredder conveying path 80 toward the shredder portion 24 (see FIG. 48)(step S804). Concurrently, the driving of the shredder drive section 35is started (step S805). Accordingly, the document is directly conveyedon the shredder conveying path 80 to the shredder portion 24, taken in,and shredded there.

It may be also possible to confirm whether or not the content of theanswer message is to give a destruction and discarding permission forthe document to the inquiry from the self-apparatus (documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3) before making an instruction ofchanging the path to the branch gate drive section 49, as in the abovemechanical embodiments.

While the shredder drive section 35 starts the driving at the same timethe branch gate drive section 49 starts to change the path in thismechanical embodiment, the shredder portion 24 needs to be driven whenthe document is conveyed, and may be driven at the preceding orsucceeding timing.

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the insert sensor 18, so that the insert sensor 18 is switched fromthe on state to the off state. Then, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 transmits a message of destruction anddiscarding completion notification that the destruction and discardingof the document is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the insert sensor is turned off (specifically the time taken sincethe rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 tillthe entire document is shredded) (step S806).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding permission for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding inhibition) at step S803, a prepareddestruction and discarding impermissible guidance to report that thedestruction and discarding of the document is not permitted is displayedon the operation panel 31 (step S807). One example of the destructionand discarding impermissible guidance may be “Destruction and discardingof this document is inhibited for some reason. Pull out the document.”It is desirable that the report includes the reason. Also, after thedestruction and discarding completion notification is transmitted, thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 immediately returns tothe standby state. However, after the destruction and discardingimpermissible guidance is displayed at step S807, the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns to the standby state ifthe insert sensor 18 is switched form the on state to the off state (theuser takes the document out of the document tray portion 17).

In this mechanical embodiment, if the answer (message) is to give thedestruction and discarding permission for the document, the branch gatedrive section 49 immediately starts to change the path. However, in thecase where the reporting of the branch gate drive section 49 is made byanother means (start button), the driving of the branch gate drivesection 49 may be released from the regulated state, if the answer(message) is to give the destruction and discarding permission for thedocument, whereby there is the same effect.

Ninth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 51 is a schematic view showing a ninth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19, a shredderportion 24, and a stopper gate 20, in which the document is directly fedto the shredder portion 24 by manual insertion.

The stopper gate 20 has the same constitution as in the above mechanicalembodiment, and the explanation is omitted. The other constitution isthe same as in the above mechanical embodiments, and its explanation isomitted.

The stopper gate 20 only needs to physically stop the conveyance of thedocument, and is not limited to this form (e.g., the stopper gate maypress the document in one conveying direction and regulate the documentfrom being conveyed.)

FIG. 52 is a block diagram showing the ninth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and a stopperdrive section 33, in addition to the components as described above. Theyare the same as in the above embodiments, and its explanation isomitted.

FIG. 53 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the ninth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS901). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user inserts thedocument, the document destruction and discarding control section 36issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code scanner19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S902).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the destruction anddiscarding of the document is permitted is made to the documentmanagement apparatus 2 (step S903). The inquiry for document destructionand discarding permission is made by creating an inquiry message fordestruction and discarding permission with the document ID contained inthe QR code read by the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmittingthis inquiry message from the network interface 37 via the network 4 tothe document management apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding permission, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 instructs the stopper drive section 33 to lift the stoppergate 20, and the stopper drive section 33 starts to lift the stoppergate 20 upon receiving this instruction. That is, the stopper gate 20 isplaced from the state of closing the conveying path to the state ofopening the conveying path (step S904). Concurrently, the driving of theshredder drive section 35 is started (step S905). Accordingly, thedocument is directly conveyed to the shredder portion 24, taken in, andshredded there.

It may be also possible to confirm whether or not the content of theanswer message is to give a destruction and discarding permission forthe document to the inquiry from the self-apparatus (documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3) before making an instruction ofstarting the driving to the stopper drive section 33, as in the abovemechanical embodiments. While the shredder drive section 35 starts thedriving at the same time the stopper drive section 33 starts the drivingin this mechanical embodiment, the shredder portion 24 needs to bedriven when the document is conveyed, and may be driven at the precedingor succeeding timing.

Thereafter, the rear end of the document passes by the sensing positionof the insert sensor 18, so that the insert sensor 18 is switched fromthe on state to the off state. Then, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 transmits a message of destruction anddiscarding completion notification that the destruction and discardingof the document is completed to the document management apparatus 2 bydesignating the document ID of the document, for which the documentdestruction and discarding permission is given ahead, in a certain timesince the insert sensor is turned off (specifically the time taken sincethe rear end of the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 tillthe entire document is shredded) (step S906).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding permission for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding inhibition) at step S903, a prepareddestruction and discarding impermissible guidance to report that thedestruction and discarding of the document is not permitted is displayedon the operation panel 31 (step S907). One example of the destructionand discarding impermissible guidance may be “Destruction and discardingof this document is inhibited for some reason. Pull out the document.”It is desirable that the report includes the reason.

Also, after the destruction and discarding completion notification istransmitted, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3immediately returns to the standby state. However, after the destructionand discarding impermissible guidance is displayed at step S907, thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 returns to the standbystate if the insert sensor 18 is switched form the on state to the offstate (the user takes the document out of the document tray portion 17).

In this mechanical embodiment, if the answer (message) is to give thedestruction and discarding permission for the document, the stopperdrive section immediately starts the upward movement operation of thestopper gate 20. However, in the case where the upward movementoperation of the stopper gate 20 is made by another means (startbutton), the upward movement operation of the stopper gate 20 may bereleased from the regulated state, if the answer (message) is to givethe destruction and discarding permission for the document.

Herein, another form of the stopper gate 20 and another form of thedropper drive section 33 will be described below.

FIG. 54 is a schematic view showing another form of the stopper gate 20.

The stopper gate 20 as shown in (A) has fundamentally the sameconstitution as that of the fourth embodiment. A different point is thatan inclined portion 85 is formed in a region of a gate hole 470 on theslide plane, with which the document slides on the conveying path, onthe downstream side (on the side of the shredder potion 24). Also, thisinclined portion 85 is set to be lower than a region of the gate hole470 on the upstream side. With such a constitution, the corner of thedocument is prevented from being caught in the gate hole 470.

More particularly, in a case where the stopper gate 20 and the stopperportion 360 are integrally formed in a rectangular plate member, forexample, one slender opening (or groove) conforming with thisrectangular plate member is formed, considering that the conveying pathof the document is fully intercepted. In this case, there is possibilitythat the document may be caught in the one slender opening (or groove).Thus, the stopper portion 360 is formed like a column, as in the fourthmechanical embodiment, and the opening (or groove) is correspondinglymade short, whereby the document is prevented from entering. However, inthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 in which thedocuments of various sizes are destroyed and discarded, there ispossibility that the corner of the document enters even in the shortopening (or groove), whereby it is desired to have a structure forpreventing the document from being trapped in such a manner that thedownstream side of the gate hole 470 is inclined or made lower than theupstream side as in this form.

The stopper gate 20 as shown in (B) has a swinging portion 86 in whichone end of the conveying path on the downstream side is attached to bevertically swung around a swinging axis 87. At the other end of theswinging portion 86, a contact face 89 contacting with the document isformed. This contact face 89 is formed to be a vertical plane that isalmost vertical in a state intercepting the conveying path. This isintended to prevent the swinging portion 86 from retracting, when thedocument is pushed into the contact face 89 in a direction toward theshredder portion 24, and to force the swinging portion 86 to quicklyretract in a state where the document is contact with the contact face87. Also, when the swinging portion 86 is located downward, a lower endof the top end part enters in the groove 88 to prevent the document fromentering under the swinging portion 86.

FIG. 55 is a schematic view further showing another form of the stoppergate 20.

FIG. 55A is a schematic view of the stopper gate 20 as seen from anadvancing direction (front face) of the document, and FIG. 55B is aschematic view of the paper tray 17 as seen from above.

Herein, the stopper gate 20 is fundamentally the same as in the fourthmechanical embodiment. A different point is that the number of columnargate portions 360 is different, in which five columnar gate portions 360are provided in this form (two in the fourth mechanical embodiment). Thestopper gate 20 of this form stops the paper size of various standardsat least two positions. That is, this constitution is desirable inconsideration of the lighter weight of the stopper gate 20, preventingthe document of small size from passing through the columnar gateportions 360, and stably stopping the conveyance of the document.

FIG. 56 is a schematic view showing another form of a drive mechanism ofthe stopper drive section 33.

The stopper drive section 33 is fundamentally the same as in the fourthmechanical embodiment. A different point is that the lever ratio of alever 91 (actuation arm 400 in the fourth mechanical embodiment) likeL-character is different. The L-character lever 91 of this form is madefreely swingable around the swinging axis 93, in which the lever ratiois set such that L1 may be greater than L2. With this constitution, adrive force of the stopper drive section 33 is expanded to drive thestopper gate 20. Also, besides the L-character lever 91, when thestopper drive section is connected via a gear, the drive force isexpanded by setting the gear ratio. In this form, a solenoid isemployed, but a motor may be employed as the drive source. Also, thestopper gate 20 is provided with a spring for pressing it down. Thisspring is provided so that the gate portion may be securely lowered.

In the stopper gate 20 of this form, the gate portion 360 is madesmoothly movable in a state where the document is pressed against thegate portion 360. In this case, the stopper drive section 33 isprevented from producing high output unnecessarily.

FIG. 57 is a view for explaining another form having the functions ofboth the eighth mechanical embodiment and the ninth mechanicalembodiment of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

A basic constitution is the same as in the eighth mechanical embodiment.A different point is that a gate face 100 contacting the document isformed at the top end part of a branch gate 45. Also, a branch gateopening portion 101 is formed on the conveying path so that the branchgate 45 may be movable downward.

Also, a processing procedure of this form as shown in FIG. 58 isfundamentally the same as in the ninth mechanical embodiment. Adifferent point is that step S908 exists after step S907′. That is, whenthe document is not given a destruction and discarding permission, thebranch gate 45 is moved down to switch the conveying path into an upperconveying path 81. In this case, when the destruction and discardingpermission is not given, the document can be conveyed and easily takenout if the document is directly pushed.

Next, the following five mechanical embodiments will be described belowin which the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 isconfigured to prevent the destruction and discarding of the documentthat must not be destroyed and discarded, so that the document that mustnot be destroyed and discarded is prevented from being carelesslydestroyed and discarded.

Tenth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 59 is a schematic view showing a tenth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19, and a shredderportion 24, in which the document is directly fed to the shredderportion 24 by manual insertion.

They have fundamentally the same constitution as in the fifth mechanicalembodiment, except that the distance between the shredder portion 24 andthe bar code scanner 19 is set to be longer than the fifth mechanicalembodiment. This distance is set to prevent the document from beingconveyed to the shredder portion 24 during the time of preventing thedestruction and discarding of the document, because it takes some timeto prevent the destruction and discarding of the document that must notbe destroyed and discarded. The other constitution is the same as in thefifth mechanical embodiment, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 60 is a block diagram showing the tenth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a bar code scanner 19, a shredder drive section 35,a document destruction and discarding control section 36, and a networkinterface 37, in addition to the components as described above. They arethe same as in the fifth mechanical embodiment, and its explanation isomitted.

FIG. 61 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the tenth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus 2 is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS1001). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user inserts thedocument, the document destruction and discarding control section 36issues an instruction of starting the driving to the shredder drivesection 35. And the shredder drive section 35 starts to drive theshredder portion 24 upon receiving this instruction (step S1002). At thesame time, the document destruction and discarding control section 26issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code scanner19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S1003).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the document is regulatedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2(step S1004). The inquiry for a document destruction and discardingpermission is made by creating an inquiry message for destruction anddiscarding regulation with the document ID contained in the QR code readby the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmitting this inquirymessage from the network interface 37 via the network 4 to the documentmanagement apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding regulation, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 instructs the shredder drive section 35 to stop. Then, theshredder drive section 35 stops driving the shredder portion 24 uponreceiving this instruction. To stop the shredder portion soon, theshredder portion 24 may be braked separately. Accordingly, the documentfed by manual insertion is prevented from being taken into the shredderportion 24, and thereby not shredded through the shred process, becausethe shredder portion 24 is stopped before it is conveyed to the shredderportion 24 (step S1005).

It may be also possible to confirm whether or not the content of theanswer message is to give a destruction and discarding regulation forthe document to the inquiry from the self-apparatus (documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3) before making an instruction ofstopping the driving to the shredder drive section 35, as in the abovemechanical embodiments.

Thereafter, a prepared destruction and discarding impermissible guidanceto report that the destruction and discarding of the document is notpermitted is displayed on the operation panel 31 (step S1006). Oneexample of the destruction and discarding impermissible guidance may be“Destruction and discarding of this document is inhibited for somereason. Pull out the document.” It is desirable that the report includesthe reason. After the destruction and discarding impermissible guidanceis displayed at step S1006, the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 returns to the standby state if the insert sensor 18 isswitched form the on state to the off state (the user takes the documentout of the document tray portion 17).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding regulation for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding permission) at step S1004, thedocument fed by manual insertion is directly conveyed to the shredderportion 24, taken in, and shredded there. And the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the insert sensor 18, so thatthe insert sensor 18 is switched from the on state to the off state.Then, the document destruction and discarding control section 36transmits a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification that the destruction and discarding of the document iscompleted to the document management apparatus 2 by designating thedocument ID of the document, for which the document destruction anddiscarding permission is given ahead, in a certain time since the insertsensor 18 is turned off (specifically the time taken since the rear endof the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 till the entiredocument is shredded) (step S1007).

Eleventh Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 62 is a schematic view showing an eleventh mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, a bar code scanner 19, a shredder portion 24, a set sensor32 and a conveying roll 60, in which the document is fed to the shredderportion 24 by the conveying roll 60. They have fundamentally the sameconstitution as in the sixth mechanical embodiment, except that thedistance between the shredder portion 24 and the bar code scanner 19 isset to be longer than in the sixth mechanical embodiment.

FIG. 63 is a block diagram showing the eleventh mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and aconveying roll drive section 61, in addition to the components asdescribed above. They are the same as in the sixth mechanicalembodiment, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 64 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the eleventh mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the set sensor 32 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS1101). If the set sensor 32 is turned on when the user lays thedocument on the document tray portion 17, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 issues an instruction of starting thedriving to the shredder drive section 35. And the shredder drive section35 starts to drive the shredder portion 24 upon receiving thisinstruction (step S1102). At the same time, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 36 issues an instruction of starting thedriving to the conveying roll drive section 61. And the conveying rolldrive section 61 starts to drive the conveying roll 60 upon receivingthis instruction (step S1103). Further, the document destruction anddiscarding control section 26 issues an instruction of reading the barcode to the bar code scanner 19. And the bar code scanner 19 readsconsecutively the QR codes printed on the documents in accordance withthis reading instruction (step S1104).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the document is regulatedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2(step S1105). The inquiry for document destruction and discardingregulation is made by creating an inquiry message for destruction anddiscarding regulation with the document ID contained in the QR code readby the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmitting this inquirymessage from the network interface 37 via the network 4 to the documentmanagement apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding regulation, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 instructs the conveying roll drive section 61 to stop. Then,the conveying roll drive section 61 stops driving the conveying roll 60upon receiving this instruction. To stop the conveying roll soon, theconveying roll 60 may be braked separately. Since the conveying roll 60is stopped till the document is conveyed to the shredder portion 24, thedocument is prevented from being taken into the shredder portion 24, andthereby not shredded through the shred process (step S1106).

It may be also possible to confirm whether or not the content of theanswer message is to give a destruction and discarding regulation forthe document to the inquiry from the self-apparatus (documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3) before making an instruction ofstopping the driving to the conveying roll drive section 61, as in theabove mechanical embodiments.

Thereafter, the document destruction and discarding control section 36makes an instruction of stopping driving the shredder portion 24 to theshredder drive section 35, and the shredder portion 24 stops (S1107).Also, a prepared destruction and discarding impermissible guidance toreport that the destruction and discarding of the document is notpermitted is displayed on the operation panel 31 (step S1108). Oneexample of the destruction and discarding impermissible guidance may be“Destruction and discarding of this document is inhibited for somereason. Pull out the document.” It is desirable that the report includesthe reason. After the destruction and discarding impermissible guidanceis displayed at step S1107, the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 returns to the standby state if the insert sensor 18 isswitched form the on state to the off state (the user takes the documentout of the document tray portion 17).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding regulation for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding permission) at step S1105, thedocument fed by manual insertion is directly conveyed to the shredderportion 24, taken in, and shredded there. And the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the insert sensor 18, so thatthe insert sensor 18 is switched from the on state to the off state.Then, the document destruction and discarding control section 36transmits a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification that the destruction and discarding of the document iscompleted to the document management apparatus 2 by designating thedocument ID of the document, for which the document destruction anddiscarding permission is given ahead, in a certain time since the insertsensor 18 is turned off (specifically the time taken since the rear endof the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 till the entiredocument is shredded) (step S1109).

Twelfth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 65 is a schematic view showing a twelfth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is constructedemploying a shredder device, for example, and comprises a document trayportion 17, an insert sensor 18, a bar code scanner 19, a shredderportion 24 and a report portion 70, in which the document is fed to theshredder portion 24 by manual insertion.

They have fundamentally the same constitution as in the seventhmechanical embodiment, except that the distance between the shredderportion 24 and the bar code scanner 19 is set to be longer than in theseventh mechanical embodiment. This distance is set to prevent thedocument from being conveyed to the shredder portion 24 for a preventiontime of destroying and discarding the document, because it takes sometime to prevent the destruction and discarding of the document that mustnot be destroyed and discarded. The other constitution is the same as inthe seventh mechanical embodiment, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 66 is a block diagram showing the twelfth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and a reportcontrol section 73, in addition to the components as described above.They are the same as in the seventh mechanical embodiment, and itsexplanation is omitted.

FIG. 67 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the twelfth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS1201). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user manuallyinserts the document, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 issues an instruction of starting the driving to the shredderdrive section 35. And the shredder drive section 35 starts to drive theshredder portion 24 upon receiving this instruction (step S1202). At thesame time, the document destruction and discarding control section 26issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code scanner19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S1203).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the document is regulatedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2(step S1204). The inquiry for document destruction and discardingregulation is made by creating an inquiry message for destruction anddiscarding regulation with the document ID contained in the QR code readby the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmitting this inquirymessage from the network interface 37 via the network 4 to the documentmanagement apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding regulation, the report control section 73 starts to reportwith the report portion 70 (display portion 71, sound source 72). And adestruction and discarding impossible guidance “Do not insert thedocument.” is displayed on the display portion 71, and a buzzer sound(voice, regulation sound) alerting that the document must not bedestroyed and discarded is issued by the sound source 72 to make areport for regulating the destruction and discarding of the documentthat must not be destroyed and discarded.

Accordingly, the user is informed that the document fed by manualinsertion must not be destroyed and discarded before the documentarrives at the shredder portion 24, whereby the document is preventedfrom being taken into the shredder portion 24, and shredded through theshred process (destruction and discarding process) (step S1205).

It may be also possible to confirm whether or not the content of theanswer message is to give a destruction and discarding regulation forthe document to the inquiry from the self-apparatus (documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3) before making an instruction ofstarting the report to the report portion 70, as in the above mechanicalembodiments.

Thereafter, the document destruction and discarding control section 36makes an instruction of stopping driving the shredder portion 24 to theshredder drive section 35, and the shredder portion 24 stops (S1206).

After the destruction and discarding impermissible guidance is displayedat step S1206, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3returns to the standby state if the insert sensor 18 is switched formthe on state to the off state (the user takes the document out of thedocument tray portion 17).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding regulation for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding permission) at step S1204, thedocument fed by manual insertion is directly conveyed to the shredderportion 24, taken in, and shredded there. And the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the insert sensor 18, so thatthe insert sensor 18 is switched from the on state to the off state.Then, the document destruction and discarding control section 36transmits a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification that the destruction and discarding of the document iscompleted to the document management apparatus 2 by designating thedocument ID of the document, for which the document destruction anddiscarding permission is given ahead, in a certain time since the insertsensor 18 is turned off (specifically the time taken since the rear endof the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 till the entiredocument is shredded) (step S1207).

Thirteenth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 68 is a schematic view showing a thirteenth mechanical embodimentof the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises adocument tray portion 17, a bar code scanner 19, a shredder portion 24and a branch gate 45 for changing the conveying path of the document, inwhich the document is directly fed to the shredder portion 24 by manualinsertion.

They have fundamentally the same constitution as in the eighthmechanical embodiment, except that the distance between the shredderportion 24 and the bar code scanner 19 is set to be longer than in theeighth mechanical embodiment. This distance is provided to prevent thedocument from being conveyed to the shredder portion 24 for a preventiontime of destroying and discarding the document, because it takes sometime to prevent the destruction and discarding of the document that mustnot be destroyed and discarded. The other constitution is the same as inthe eighth mechanical embodiment, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 69 is a block diagram showing the thirteenth mechanical embodimentof the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and a branchgate drive section 49, in addition to the components as described above.They are the same as in the eighth mechanical embodiment, and itsexplanation is omitted.

FIG. 70 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the thirteenth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus 2 is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS1301). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user manuallyinserts the document, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 issues an instruction of starting the driving to the shredderdrive section 35. Then, the shredder drive section 35 starts to drivethe shredder portion 24 upon receiving this instruction (step S1302). Atthe same time, the document destruction and discarding control section26 issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code scanner19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S1303).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the document is regulatedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2(step S1304). The inquiry for document destruction and discardingpermission is made by creating an inquiry message for destruction anddiscarding permission with the document ID contained in the QR code readby the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmitting this inquirymessage from the network interface 37 via the network 4 to the documentmanagement apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding regulation, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 makes an instruction of changing the path to the branch gatedrive section 49. Then, the branch gate drive section 49 starts tochange the path of the branch gate 45 upon receiving this instruction.That is, the branch gate drive section 49 moves the branch gate 45, sothat the path on which the document is conveyed is switched from ashredder conveying path 80 toward the shredder portion 24 to an upperconveying path 81 extending upward from the shredder portion 24, wherebythe path is changed to regulate the destruction and discarding of thedocument.

Accordingly, the path of the document is switched into the destructionand discarding prevention path by the time when the document fed bymanual insertion arrives at the shredder portion 24, whereby thedocument is prevented from being taken into the shredder portion 24, andnot shredded through the shred process (step S1305).

It may be also possible to confirm whether or not the content of theanswer message is to give a destruction and discarding regulation forthe document to the inquiry from the self-apparatus (documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3) before making an instruction ofchanging the path to the branch gate drive section 49, as in the abovemechanical embodiments.

Thereafter, the document destruction and discarding control section 36makes an instruction of stopping driving the shredder portion 24 to theshredder drive section 35, and the shredder portion 24 stops (S1306).Also, a prepared destruction and discarding impermissible guidance toreport that the destruction and discarding of the document is notpermitted is displayed on the operation panel 31 (step S1307). Oneexample of the destruction and discarding impermissible guidance may be“Destruction and discarding of this document is inhibited for somereason. Pull out the document.” It is desirable that the report includesthe reason. After the destruction and discarding impermissible guidanceis displayed at step S1307, the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 returns to the standby state if the insert sensor 18 isswitched form the on state to the off state (the user takes the documentout of the document tray portion 17).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding regulation for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding permission) at step S1304, thedocument fed by manual insertion is directly conveyed to the shredderportion 24, taken in, and shredded there. And the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the insert sensor 18, so thatthe insert sensor 18 is switched from the on state to the off state.Then, the document destruction and discarding control section 36transmits a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification that the destruction and discarding of the document iscompleted to the document management apparatus 2 by designating thedocument ID of the document, for which the document destruction anddiscarding permission is given ahead, in a certain time since the insertsensor 18 is turned off (specifically the time taken since the rear endof the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 till the entiredocument is shredded) (step S1308).

Fourteenth Mechanical Embodiment

FIG. 71 is a schematic view showing a fourteenth mechanical embodimentof the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

This document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises adocument tray portion 17, a bar code scanner 19, a shredder portion 24and a stopper gate 20 for intercepting the conveying path of thedocument, in which the document is directly fed to the shredder portion24 by manual insertion.

They have fundamentally the same constitution as in the ninth mechanicalembodiment, except that the distance between the shredder portion 24 andthe bar code scanner 19 is set to be longer than in the ninth mechanicalembodiment. This distance is set to prevent the document from beingconveyed to the shredder portion 24 for a prevention time of destroyingand discarding the document, because it takes some time to prevent thedestruction and discarding of the document that must not be destroyedand discarded. The other constitution is the same as in the ninthmechanical embodiment, and its explanation is omitted.

FIG. 72 is a block diagram showing the fourteenth mechanical embodimentof the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 comprises anoperation panel 31, a shredder drive section 35, a document destructionand discarding control section 36, a network interface 37, and a stopperdrive section 33, in addition to the components as described above. Theyare the same as in the ninth mechanical embodiment, and its explanationis omitted.

FIG. 73 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for destroying anddiscarding the document in the fourteenth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3. The process of thedocument management apparatus 2 is the same as those of the abovemechanical embodiments, and its explanation is omitted.

The document destruction and discarding control section 36 continuallymonitors the signal (on/off state) of the insert sensor 18 while thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is on standby (stepS1301). If the insert sensor 18 is turned on when the user manuallyinserts the document, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 issues an instruction of starting the driving to the shredderdrive section 35. Then, the shredder drive section 35 starts to drivethe shredder portion 24 upon receiving this instruction (step S1402). Atthe same time, the document destruction and discarding control section26 issues an instruction of reading the bar code to the bar code scanner19. And the bar code scanner 19 reads the QR code printed on thedocument in accordance with this reading instruction (step S1403).

Next, as for the document specified by the document ID contained in theread QR code, an inquiry as to whether or not the document is regulatedto destroy and discard is made to the document management apparatus 2(step S1404). The inquiry for document destruction and discardingpermission is made by creating an inquiry message for destruction anddiscarding permission with the document ID contained in the QR code readby the bar code scanner 19 designated and transmitting this inquirymessage from the network interface 37 via the network 4 to the documentmanagement apparatus 2.

And if the answer message is to give the document destruction anddiscarding regulation, the document destruction and discarding controlsection 36 makes an instruction of moving the stopper gate 20 downwardto the stopper drive section 33. Then, the stopper drive section 33issues an instruction of making the down movement of the stopper gate20, and the stopper gate 20 is moved downward to block the conveyingpath to regulate the destruction and discarding of the document.Accordingly, the stopper gate is moved downward by the time when thedocument fed by manual insertion is conveyed to the shredder portion 24,whereby the document is prevented from being taken into the shredderportion 24, and not shredded through the shred process (destruction anddiscarding process) (step S1405). It may be also possible to confirmwhether or not the content of the answer message is to give adestruction and discarding regulation for the document to the inquiryfrom the self-apparatus (document destruction and discarding apparatus3) before making an instruction of lowering the stopper gate to thestopper drive section 33, as in the above mechanical embodiments.

Thereafter, the document destruction and discarding control section 36makes an instruction of stopping driving the shredder portion 24 to theshredder drive section 35, and the shredder portion 24 stops (S1406).Also, a prepared destruction and discarding impermissible guidance toreport that the destruction and discarding of the document is notpermitted is displayed on the operation panel 31 (step S1407). Oneexample of the destruction and discarding impermissible guidance may be“Destruction and discarding of this document is inhibited for somereason. Pull out the document.” It is desirable that the report includesthe reason. After the destruction and discarding impermissible guidanceis displayed at step S1407, the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3 returns to the standby state if the insert sensor 18 isswitched form the on state to the off state (the user takes the documentout of the document tray portion 17).

On the other hand, if the destruction and discarding regulation for thedocument is not given from the document management apparatus 2 (noanswer, destruction and discarding permission) at step S1404, thedocument fed by manual insertion is directly conveyed to the shredderportion 24, taken in, and shredded there. And the rear end of thedocument passes by the sensing position of the insert sensor 18, so thatthe insert sensor 18 is switched from the on state to the off state.Then, the document destruction and discarding control section 36transmits a message of destruction and discarding completionnotification that the destruction and discarding of the document iscompleted to the document management apparatus 2 by designating thedocument ID of the document, for which the document destruction anddiscarding permission is given ahead, in a certain time since the insertsensor 18 is turned off (specifically the time taken since the rear endof the document is taken into the shredder portion 24 till the entiredocument is shredded) (step S1408).

Effects of the Invention

Though the first to fourteenth mechanical embodiments of the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 have been specifically describedabove, the effects of the first to fourteenth mechanical embodiments ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 will be describedbelow.

The document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 can prevent thedestruction and discarding of the document that must not be destroyedand discarded, because it is determined whether or not the document maybe destroyed and discarded, and the destruction and discarding processis performed according to its determination result (first to fourteenthmechanical embodiments of the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3).

Since an inquiry as to whether or not the document may be destructionand discarding is made to the document management apparatus bydesignating the document ID appended to the document, and thedestruction and discarding process is performed according to the answercontent to this inquiry, it is possible to prevent the destruction anddiscarding of the document that must not be destroyed and discarded.

Also, even if the information as to whether or not the document may bedestroyed and discarded is changed in a document storage process, it isonly necessary to change this information, for example, whereby it ispossible to prevent the destruction and discarding of the document thatmust not be destroyed and discarded, based on the reliable informationat the time of destruction and discarding (first to fourteenthmechanical embodiments of the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3).

On the other hand, in the case where the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3 itself makes a determination whether or not thedocument may be destroyed and discarded, the destruction and discardingprocess for the document is performed based on the determination resultof determination means for making the determination, whereby it ispossible to prevent the destruction and discarding of the document thatmust not be destroyed and discarded.

Also, in the case where a determination is made based on the attributeinformation appended to the document, the destruction and discardingprocess for the document is performed based on the determination result,whereby it is possible to prevent the destruction and discarding of thedocument that must not be destroyed and discarded with a relativelysimple constitution.

Moreover, in the case where an inquiry for the attribute information(period information, etc.) of the document is made to the documentmanagement apparatus 3 by designating the document DI appended to thedocument, and a determination is made based on the sent attributeinformation, the destruction and discarding process for the document isperformed based on the determination result, whereby it is possible toprevent the destruction and discarding of the document that must not bedestroyed and discarded.

In the case where the document is not destroyed and discarded in afundamental state, the destruction and discarding process for thedocument is performed only when the document may be destroyed anddiscarded in this state of not destroying and discarding the document,whereby it is possible to prevent securely the destruction anddiscarding of the document that must not be destroyed and discarded.Also, even when the determination means for determining whether or notthe document may be destroyed and discarded breaks down, for example, itis possible to prevent securely the destruction and discarding of thedocument that must not be destroyed and discarded, because it isfundamental that the document is not destroyed and discarded (first toninth mechanical embodiments of the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3).

Since the shredder portion 24 for shredding the document is driven onlywhen the document may be destroyed and discarded, the shredder portion24 is not driven for the document that must not be destroyed anddiscarded, whereby it is possible to prevent securely the destructionand discarding of the document that must not be destroyed and discarded(first to fifth mechanical embodiments of the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3).

Since the conveying roll 60 is driven only when the document may bedestroyed and discarded, the conveying roll 60 is not driven for thedocument that must not be destroyed and discarded, whereby it ispossible to prevent the destruction and discarding of the document thatmust not be destroyed and discarded (sixth mechanical embodiments of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since a report that the document is destroyed and discarded is issuedonly when the document may be destroyed and discarded, no report isgiven for the document that must not be destroyed and discarded, wherebyit is possible to prevent the destruction and discarding of the documentthat must not be destroyed and discarded (seventh mechanical embodimentsof the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

In the case where it is a fundamental state that the destruction anddiscarding of the document is regulated, the document is released fromthe state where the destruction and discarding of the document isregulated, only if the document may be destroyed and discarded.Therefore, it is possible to regulate the destruction and discarding ofthe document that must not be destroyed and discarded and preventsecurely the destruction and discarding of the document that must not bedestroyed and discarded (eighth and ninth mechanical embodiments of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since the branch gate 45 of the document is changed to the conveyingpath on which the document can be destroyed and discarded only when thedocument may be destroyed and discarded, only the document permitted todestroy and discard can be destroyed and discarded, whereby it ispossible to prevent securely the destruction and discarding of thedocument that must not be destroyed and discarded (eighth mechanicalembodiment of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since the stopper gate 20 for intercepting the conveying path of thedocument is moved down to allow the destruction and discarding of thedocument only when the document may be destroyed and discarded, only thedocument permitted to destroy and discard can be destroyed anddiscarded, whereby it is possible to prevent securely the destructionand discarding of the document that must not be destroyed and discarded.

Also, when the user tries to destroy and discard the document, forexample, the gate portion for closing the conveying path can berecognized visually, or the document is pushed against the gate portionwhen the user thrusts the document into the conveying path, whereby theuser can recognize that the destruction and discarding of the documentis regulated in a fundamental state, suppressing the feeling of physicaldisorder to the user because the document can not be destroyed anddiscarded (ninth mechanical embodiment of the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3).

Since the stopper gate 20 moves the gate portion such that the gateportion is located downward in the state where the destruction anddiscarding of the document is regulated, or the gate portion is locatedupward in the state where the destruction and discarding of the documentis permitted, the gate portion intercepts the conveying path owing toits dead weight, in the case where it is the fundamental state that thedestruction and discarding of the document is regulated. Therefore, evenwhen the gate means breaks down, for example, the gate portionintercepts the conveying path owing to its dead weight, whereby it ispossible to prevent securely the destruction and discarding of thedocument that must not be destroyed and discarded (ninth mechanicalembodiment of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

In the case where the gate portion 360 is moved downward from the statewhere it is located upward to intercept the conveying path, there ispossibility that the document passes through a gap between the slideface of the document on the conveying path and the gate portion 360.However, since a lower end part of the gate portion 360 extends beyondthe slide face of the document on the conveying path in the state wherethe gate portion is located down, the document is prevented from passingbetween the gate portion and the slide face of the conveying path,whereby it is possible to prevent securely the destruction anddiscarding of the document that must not be destroyed and discarded(ninth mechanical embodiment of the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3).

Since the gate portion 360 is provided to be vertically swingable, theoperation of releasing the gate portion 360 from intercepting theconveying path is expedited with a relatively simple constitution,whereby it is possible to prevent the destruction and discarding of thedocument that must not be destroyed and discarded and expedite theoperation of releasing the regulation (ninth mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since the gate portion 360 is connected to drive means via a drive forceexpansion mechanism for expanding the drive force, the gate portion 360is moved excellently even in a state where the document is pressedagainst the gate portion, for example, whereby it is possible to preventthe destruction and discarding of the document that must not bedestroyed and discarded and securely release the regulation (ninthmechanical embodiment of the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3).

Since the document is regulated from being destroyed and discarded inthe case where the document must not be destroyed and discarded, it ispossible to prevent the destruction and discarding of the document thatmust not be destroyed and discarded (tenth to fourteenth mechanicalembodiments of the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since the driving of the shredder portion 24 is stopped in the casewhere the document must not be destroyed and discarded, it is possibleto prevent securely the destruction and discarding of the document thatmust not be destroyed and discarded (tenth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since the driving of the conveying roll 60 is stopped in the case wherethe document must not be destroyed and discarded, it is possible toprevent securely the destruction and discarding of the document thatmust not be destroyed and discarded (eleventh mechanical embodiment ofthe document destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since the report portion 70 reports that the document must not bedestroyed and discarded in the case where the document must not bedestroyed and discarded, it is possible to prevent the destruction anddiscarding of the document that must not be destroyed and discarded(twelfth mechanical embodiment of the document destruction anddiscarding apparatus 3).

Since the branch gate 45 changes the conveying path of the document tothe conveying path where the destruction and discarding of the documentis impossible in the case where the document must not be destroyed anddiscarded, it is possible to prevent the destruction and discarding ofthe document that must not be destroyed and discarded (thirteenthmechanical embodiment of the document destruction and discardingapparatus 3).

Since the stopper gate 20 intercepts the conveying path of the documentto make the destruction and discarding of the document impossible in thecase where the document must not be destroyed and discarded, it ispossible to prevent the destruction and discarding of the document thatmust not be destroyed and discarded.

Also, when the user tries to destroy and discard the document, thestopper gate 20 intercepting the conveying path can be recognizedvisually, or the document is pushed against the stopper gate 20 when theuser thrusts the document into the conveying path, whereby the user canrecognize that the destruction and discarding of the document isregulated, and feels less incompatible because the document can not bedestroyed and discarded (fourteenth mechanical embodiment of thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3).

Since a report indicating that the destruction and discarding of thedocument is not permitted is displayed on the operation panel 31(destruction and discarding impossible report means) in the case wherethe document must not be destroyed and discarded, the user feels lessincompatible because the document can not be destroyed and discarded(first to fourteenth mechanical embodiments of the document destructionand discarding apparatus 3).

In the first to fourteenth mechanical embodiments of the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3 as described above, the shredderportion 24 is not necessarily required, because the destruction anddiscarding of the document is performed through the shred process(cutting) by the shredder portion 24. That is, a destruction anddiscarding box 1000 that is managed by fastening a lock 1001 so that theinformation leakage of the document does not occur may be provided,instead of the shredder portion 24, as shown in FIG. 74. That is, theinvention is also applicable in the cases of the dealer makingdestruction and discarding of the documents accumulated in thedestruction and discarding box 1000 not to leak the information at one'srisk. That is, in the invention, it is only necessary to havedestruction and discarding processing means for destroying anddiscarding the document not to leak the information.

Also, to determine whether or not the document may be destroyed anddiscarded, the bar code scanner 19 reads the document ID from the QRcode printed on the document, an inquiry for destruction and discardingpermission of the document is made to the document management apparatus2 by designating the read document ID, and if an answer to this inquiryis destruction and discarding permission, the document may be destroyedand discarded, but the invention is not limited thereto.

That is, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 transmitsthe document ID to the document management apparatus 2 connected to thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3 via the document, andthe document management apparatus 2 reads the information required todetermine whether or not the document may be destroyed and discarded,based on this document ID, and transmits this information to thedocument destruction and discarding apparatus 3, whereby the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus may determine whether or not thedocument may be destruction and discarding based on the transmittedinformation.

Also, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 itself mayretrieve and read the information required to determine whether or notthe document may be destroyed and discarded via the network 4, anddetermine it by itself.

In addition, various determination methods may be conceived, but theinvention is fundamentally applicable to any constitution as far aswhether or not the document may be destroyed and discarded can bedetermined.

Also, the document destruction and discarding apparatus 3 is connectedto the network 4, but may not be connected to the network 4. Forexample, the QR code may contain the information required to determinewhether or not the document may be destroyed and discarded, namely, themanagement information such as period information or amount of money. Inthis case, an attribute determination section 2000 may be provided asshown in the block diagram of FIG. 75. That is, the attributedetermination section 2000 comprises an attribute information readingsection 2001 for reading the attribute information, an analysis section2002 for analyzing the image such as character or bar code read by theattribute information reading section 2001, a storage section 2004 forstoring the information (storage period of the document, etc.) analyzedby the analysis section 2002, a clock section 2005 indicating thecurrent clock, and a determination section 2003 for determining whetherthe document may be destroyed and discarded from the current time andthe storage period, in which the determination section 2003 candetermine whether or not the document may be destroyed and discarded bycomparing the period information read from the QR code and the clocksection 2005. This attribute determination section 2000 is adaptable tothe first to fourteenth mechanical embodiments of the documentdestruction and discarding apparatus 3.

Also, in the invention, the document is managed according to the periodassociated with the document ID, but the invention is not limited to themanagement of the period. For example, whether or not the document maybe destroyed and discarded is judged based on the amount of money in theapplication for payment, approver, creator who creates the document, andvarious conditions (management information).

Particularly, the original has the storage period fixed according to theamount of money, and some originals must not be destroyed and discardedaccording to the amount of money. Accordingly, it is beneficial todetermine whether or not the document may be destroyed and discardeddepending on the conditions such as the storage period and the amount ofmoney.

While the destruction and discarding object is the document as one formof this embodiment, the invention is not limited to the destruction anddiscarding object of the document, but may be adaptable to variousrecording media such as CD and DVD.

Also, while the QR code printed on the document is employed to appendthe information such as document ID (identification number) to thedocument as one form of this embodiment, the invention is not limitedthereto, but the numeral or symbol representing the document ID may bedirectly printed on the document, or the technique such as watermark orpaper fingerprint may be employed. Also, the appendage of the documentID (identification number) to the document is not limited to printing,but the label may be attached or a small RFID storing the document ID(identification number) may be embedded, for example. Also, theinformation appended to the document (recording medium) is not limitedto the document ID, but the paper ID specifying the paper may beappended to the document, in which the paper ID and the document ID maybe managed associatively. Also, the management information such asmanagement period may be directly appended to the document (recordingmedium) by the above technique.

The foregoing description of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention has been provided for the purposes of illustration anddescription. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed. Obviously, many modificationsand variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in the art. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, therebyenabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments and with the various modifications as are suited tothe particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of theinvention be defined by the following claims and their equivalents.

1. A sheet destruction and discarding apparatus for destroying anddiscarding a sheet, comprising: a destruction and discarding unit thatdestroys and discards the sheet based on a determination whether or notthe sheet is allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded; a notificationunit that notifies that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and tobe discarded and a reason why the sheet is not allowed to be destroyedand to be discarded when the determination indicates that the sheet isnot allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded; an insert sensor thatdetects whether or not the sheet is taken off, wherein, after thenotification unit notifies that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyedand to be discarded and the reason, a state of the insert sensor changesto an off state and then a state of the sheet destruction and discardingapparatus changes to a standby state.
 2. The sheet destruction anddiscarding apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a readingunit that reads identification information appended to the sheet; aninquiry unit that make an inquiry about the determination based on theidentification information read by the reading unit, wherein thedestruction and discarding unit destroys and discards the sheet based ona result of the inquiries.
 3. The sheet destruction and discardingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a determination unitthat determines whether or not the sheet is allowed to be destroyed andto be discarded, wherein the destruction and discarding unit thatdestroys and discards the sheet based on the determination in thedetermination unit.
 4. The sheet destruction and discarding apparatusaccording to claim 3, further comprising a reading unit that readsattribute information appended to the sheet, wherein the determinationunit determines whether or not the sheet is allowed to be destroyed andto be discarded based on the attribute information read by the readingunit.
 5. The sheet destruction and discarding apparatus according toclaim 3, further comprising a reading unit that reads identificationinformation appended to the sheet, an inquiry unit that make an inquiryabout attribute information with a management unit based on theidentification information read by the reading unit, wherein thedestruction and discarding unit that destroys and discards the sheetbased on the attribute information obtained by the inquiry unit.
 6. Thesheet destruction and discarding apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe destruction and discarding unit destroys and discards the sheet whenthe determination indicates that the sheet is allowed to be destroyedand to be discarded.
 7. A sheet management apparatus connected to asheet destruction and discarding apparatus for destroying and discardinga sheet, comprising: a sheet management unit that manages identificationinformation appended to the sheet associated with management informationof the sheet; and a transmit unit that outputs restriction informationwhen the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded byconfirming the management information corresponding to the sheet inresponse to an inquiry about the restriction information of the sheet,wherein the recording medium destruction and discarding apparatusincludes an insert sensor that detects whether or not the sheet is takenoff, wherein the sheet destruction and discarding apparatus notifiesthat the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded and areason why the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discardedwhen the transmit unit output the restriction information, and wherein,after information that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and tobe discarded and the reason is displayed, a state of the insert sensorchanges to an off state and then a state of the sheet destruction anddiscarding apparatus changes to a standby state.
 8. A sheet destructionand discarding method for destroying and discarding a sheet, comprising:reading identification information appended to the sheet; inquiring,with a sheet management apparatus, about information as to whether ornot the sheet is allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded based onthe identification information read by the reading step; destroying anddiscarding the sheet when the information obtained by the inquiring stepindicate that the sheet is allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded;notifying that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to bediscarded and a reason why the sheet not allowed to be destroyed and tobe discarded when the information obtained by the inquiring stepindicate that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to bediscarded; changing to a standby state after a state of a insertionsensor for detecting whether or not the sheet is taken off changes to anoff state after the notifying step.
 9. A sheet destruction anddiscarding method for destroying and discarding a sheet, comprising:reading identification information appended to the sheet; inquiring,with a sheet management apparatus, about information as to whether ornot the sheet is allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded based onthe identification information read by the reading step; restrictingdestruction and discard of the sheet when the information obtained bythe inquiring step indicate that the sheet is not allowed to bedestroyed and to be discarded; notifying that the sheet is not allowedto be destroyed and to be discarded and a reason why the sheet is notallowed to be destroyed and to be discarded when the informationobtained by the inquiring step indicate that the sheet is not allowed tobe destroyed and to be discarded; changing to a standby state after astate of a insertion sensor for detecting whether or not the sheet istaken off changes to an off state after the notifying step.
 10. Therecording medium destruction and discarding apparatus according to claim1, further comprising: a main body that includes a cutting unit thatcuts the sheet; a scan unit that includes a reading unit that readsidentification information appended to the sheet which is object ofdestruction and discarding, the scan unit is detachable to the mainbody.
 11. A sheet destruction and discarding system for destroying anddiscarding a sheet, comprising: a determination unit that determineswhether or not the sheet is allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded;a destruction and discarding unit that destroys and discards the sheetbased on the determination; a notification unit that notifies that thesheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded and a reasonwhy the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to be discarded whenthe determination indicates that the sheet is not allowed to bedestroyed and to be discarded; an insert sensor that detects whether ornot the sheet is taken off, wherein, after the notification unitnotifies that the sheet is not allowed to be destroyed and to bediscarded and the reason, a state of the insert sensor changes to an offstate and then a state of the sheet destruction and discarding apparatuschanges to a standby state.